Requiem of the Guardians
by brokenkitty95
Summary: After months of dealing with Lara's death, Jay finds himself in the center of a plot to destroy the Overworld. New friends and enemies alike join the Realm of Mianite. Perhaps death isn't quite as permanent as it seems. Co-author: JustAnotherGuest.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Jay sighed, leaning back against the bed. Today was one of his rare moments of peace, and one of the few that didn't include a visit from Polaris. He knew the Enderdragon was worried about him. Sometimes, she seemed to be the only one to really remember his existence. Jordan and the other humans would stop by on the rare occasion to invite him to join them in their ventures, but he always turned them down. He'd been pranking Tom less and less, too.

Recently, the Overworld didn't seem like fun. But he stayed – because he _promised her_ that he would. He promised her that he'd live happily, and he was _trying so hard_ to do that for her. He was probably succeeding less than Jace was, though, and that was saying something. Jace had taken over Lara's job at trying to micromanage everything the Mianitees did or needed.

"Laying down, I see. Just like you did when I died," a voice noted aloud.

 _Her_ voice.

He growled to himself, closing his eyes. "Shut up, you damned liar. You aren't Lara."

She probably smirked at him. He was _sure_ she did. This… _thing_ always wore a smirk when he said anything to it. It had hurt, at first, to see it. To say _her_ name. He had thought that it really was her, until recently, when it began blaming him.

But, at the back of his mind, there was always a small part of him – growing larger and larger with every time he saw the thing – that made him question if he was right, or if it really was Lara, angry over her death. Blaming him for her death.

Hadn't it been his fault…?

If not for him, she would—

"Yeah, tell yourself that, coward," it said.

Jay could feel his body beginning to shake with pent up rage. How dare this thing look like her. How dare it! How dare it make a mockery of her memory, and torment him like this? Didn't it understand that he felt guilty enough? That he blamed himself?

"Shut up," he shouted, voice powerful enough to cause the foundation of _her_ cabin to start to tremble and the shadows along the walls and floor to lengthen, feeling beckoned by their new master.

It laughed at him. "You know, this is all your fault. You could easily shut me up. You just don't want to."

"Fuck. You," he growled as he turned himself away from it. He faced the wall and covered his ears with the pillow that over the course of the last few months had lost _her_ smell. It was one of the few heartaches he had left to get past.

"You would like to, I'm sure," it purred.

He shook his head. "I would like for you to shut the fuck up."

It chuckled at him. "Oh, Jay... If only you'd let me. I'd much rather be dead and gone than babysitting you from the afterlife."

"You're not her, ghostly bitch. Say anything else and I'll smack your wispy ass."

"Denial is a pitiful, awful thing. Why do you always doubt me?"

"Because you're not the woman I fell in love with."

He sat up, swatting at the incorporeal form. It was made of some sort of smoke or mist, which dispersed at his touch only to return to the same, heart-wrenching appearance. Standing over him, looking unamused and frustrated, was _Lara_. Her wings were damaged, as they had been when he'd last seen her. Her robes were as pristine as ever. Her hair was neat. The only difference was that her eyes were darker and colder, lacking life and light, and her body was bordering transparency. It was a horrible reminder of her last moments.

The ghost sighed at him, sounding exhausted and angry. "You know you'll just call me back, but I suppose I can humor you. Give us both a break."

As it vanished, Jay let out another scream. This was not the first time it had visited him; he doubted it would be the last. The ground around him cracked dangerously, causing the cabin to quiver again and dust to fall from the rafters. The building was no longer as neat as it had been with its previous occupant, but Jay couldn't bring himself to leave it. It was the only thing he knew that was left of her.

"Dammit," Jace growled as he entered. Jay was sure he had taken the time to knock, but he hadn't paid it mind. "You're going to decimate the hillside if you continue."

Jay looked up at him and noticed that he crossed his arms. His wings twitched and his tail flitted about angrily behind him. Jay wasn't sure how it had happened, but Jace's wings had gone from their previous black to a brilliant shade of red. They'd only been that way since he'd gotten free of whatever Netherian prison Lara had put him into to protect him.

Jace growled at him, clearly exhausted from trying to take over Lara's job. "Who are you even having a shouting match with? I could hear you all the way back at Nade's house," he demanded.

"It's… It's someone. It's not Lara, but it looks like her," Jay answered, desperate for Jace to give him a look of anything but the displeased disbelief that he was currently offering. "He looks like her, dammit!" He put his head in his hands, sighing.

For a moment, Jace was silent. He sighed and walked over, placing a hand on Jay's shoulder in what Jay knew was an attempt to be comforting. He knew it was hard on Jace, too. Jace had lost his sister. His lifetime companion. His playmate.

Jay had _only_ lost the _love of his life_.

"Jay—" Jace cut himself off, clearly believing what he was going to start to say was wrong, and then he continued, "Kid, move on already. There's no one here. Lara's… Lara's been dead for months. The only one making you see her is yourself." He reached up and prodded Jay's temple with a finger, as if doing so would accentuate his point.

Jay shoved his hand away. "Dammit, Jace. That's not it! Something is going on…" Jace rolled his eyes and left, silent the entire while.

Jay clutched the bed, listening as the ground began to crack again. He knew Jace was right. Over the last few months, his 'fits' had caused earthquakes – and if he didn't calm down, another one was going to be on the way. Tom's house had laughably taken the brunt of the quakes. It had already racked up a hefty fine of diamonds for the Wizards with how often it needed rebuilding.

Wasn't this what Lara had wanted, though?

" _I suppose you'll have to remember to blow up Tom's house for me."_

That was what she had told him to do, right?

He was only doing what she wanted and embracing destruction.

He belonged to chaos.

The ghost appeared again at his side, as if beckoned forth by his thoughts of her. It – _she_ – clicked her tongue at him chidingly. "Or maybe," she sing-songed, "I'm your own pretty little creation. Created by your powers taking and twisting mine, turning them into something horrible. You _do_ bring trouble, don't you, Jay? You break everything you touch."

He kept his eyes low, not wanting to look at her. "Destroy everything," he agreed, rocking himself slowly. The shadows moved back and forth, bending to follow him like greedy, hungry sharks. Or like loyal pets waiting to comfort and soothe their disturbed master.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see a devious smile cross her face. It was a foreign expression, but like she had suggested, maybe his powers had taken his and twisted them. Maybe she was angry. Maybe this ghost of her was just his punishment for letting something pure and wonderful die.

She leaned in closer to him and settled a hand on his arm, whispering in his ear, "Why don't you go and visit some of the others? Try not to break them, though. Mortals are fragile little things. I would _hate_ to see any of them broken, even a little. You'll do that for me, you won't, Jay?"

 _I'll do anything for you, Lara,_ he thought. _If it makes you smile, I'll do it._

He raised his head slowly. "Broken," he confirmed.

He sunk into the shadows and reappeared outside of Tom's house. The night was rising. He felt extremely powerful. Perhaps more than he had even in the last few months, or in an existence of nights. Part of him knew he should question the amount of power he felt, but it was too much to focus on. He had to focus on other things. Like Tom.

"Mate, you better? My house safe?" Tom joked as he noticed Jay. He offered a sigh of relief.

Jay wondered why.

"No one is safe," he growled, vaguely aware of the strange, almost layered tone his voice held, like multiple people were speaking his words.

Tom narrowed his eyes and reached around his back for the sword Jay knew was settled there. "Mate? You alright there?"

"Yes, I can see clearly. I can see ahead. Chaos. Death. By my hands," he muttered in return.

Tom hesitated, moving his hand away from the sword and to his chat-pad. Jay was sure his intention was to message his friends. The Mianitees who had _left him_ and _allowed Lara to die_. Or perhaps Tom was just worried about his silly little house and the debt he owed to the Wizards. Jay knew Tom had begun storing his things elsewhere. Jace had told him that much during an earlier visit.

"Whoa, calm down there, Jay. You're speakin' nonsense," Tom said.

Jay shook his head. "Not nonsense, Tom. I speak the truth." He stepped forward and cracks spread along the ground underneath his feet, spider-webbing out as he moved closer to Tom. "Everything comes to an end, Tom. Sometimes, you have to bring it faster."

With every step he took forward, Tom took two back. "What's gotten into you?"

Jay laughed. Even to him, his laughter sounded deranged. Insane. "Tom, I think it's more like _who_ has gotten into me."

"What?" Tom asked.

The ghost appeared, sitting atop a branch in one of the trees nearby. "Now, now, shh," she scolded, "don't tell him too much. His fragile, little mind may not understand. You wouldn't want to ruin him forever, Jay. He'll be no fun then."

Jay sighed. "I… Nothing. Point is, you're going down."

He noticed Tom glance up and knew that in any second, the others would arrive.

"And here comes the cavalry, charging down to save him. Wouldn't want them to think you're the villain, would you," the ghost suggested.

Jay frowned. "Yeah, suppose not," he replied. When Tom raised a brow, clearly unaware that the ghost was there and Jay was responding to it, Jay ignored him.

He turned his attention back to Tom as he heard the others getting closer. "Sorry 'bout your house, man."

"Um… yeah, man," Tom offered, stance rigid. Jay knew he wasn't expecting an apology. "It's fine. I can fix it…"

"Good, good. It won't happen again, will it, Tom?" Jay said with a false smile plastered on his face. Once Tom nodded, Jay started off, managing to hear a bit of the conversation before he got out of earshot..

"He's got to get ahold of himself," Jace said. "With how he's acting and how much damage he's doing, he's going to tear the Overworld apart."

"And me with it, Mate," Tom added.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Welcome back to the main story series! I just edited this last night. I'll probably be editing the chapters a night in advanced for each one so I don't lose track of which chapter is which.**_


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Ianite hovered above one of the obsidian pillars in the End. It had been a long time since she had been able to comfortably visit her realm, and admittedly, her former-Guardian's presence was one she missed. Syrreth had always flown around before landing next to her, curling around her contentedly like an oversized kitten. She hadn't seen Syrreth in centuries, though; finding out from the Mianitees that her Guardian had been killed had been upsetting. Polaris was wonderful, though, despite not choosing to reside in the End.

A smile crossed her face as she watched golden energy at work in front of her, distracting her from the absence she felt. Mianite had managed to recreate his Guardian's energy and had left it to create a new body for itself – one identical to its last. She knew her brother had selfish reasoning, even if Mianite denied it. It was not Jay that Mianite was considering; it was himself only. The only reason Mianite had chosen the End as the location for Lara to wake was because it was the only neutral ground outside of the Overworld – and the Overworld meant risking Jay would be present.

"Not much longer," she soothed to no one. The quiet was surprisingly peaceful after so long of being left to it, alone.

Mianite appeared next to her. "I see things are going well," he complimented, glancing down at the body that was being created. It was nearly complete. All that really seemed left was for the energy to enter it and adjust again.

"It is good to have you back, Sister. Without you, this would not be possible," he continued.

Ianite offered a smile. "I am where peace is needed. Lara needs it, that boy needs it, and you and Dianite need it."

"Yes, I suppose you are correct," he agreed, "although, I fear there is worse to be had with Lara and Jay. Something feels… amiss. The Overworld is suffering."

She nodded. "I felt a presence. Perhaps—"

"No, it's impossible, Ianite. But if she gets to him… _if_ she is back…"

Ianite hummed quietly and looked down as the golden light disappeared into the body lying on the pillar. "It is impossible," she echoed, "she will not get to him, Mianite. It will be as you said."

"Yes… Yes, that's it." Mianite nodded. "My little angel will wake soon. Tell her that her father loves her."

She smiled. "Of course. Should I send her to see you first, or would you like me to send her to the Overworld?"

"Send her to me. I will give her back her immortality," he answered before vanishing.

The body in front of Ianite glowed as the energy adjusted, relaxing into the limp form. "Nearly…"

* * *

Lara felt a warmth flood over her. Her eyes felt heavy, and she felt as though she had slept for years. Upon trying to open her eyes, she had to quickly close them again. Everything was too bright. When she opened them again, she forced herself to take the time for them to adjust. The sky gradually melted into a cool, clear, dark view. She grimaced inwardly.

 _I'm in the End?_ She wondered.

Ianite rushed to her side, kneeling down to help her sit up. "Darling, how much do you remember?" She asked quietly.

"I…" Lara shook her head, trying to clear it so she could better remember. "Your Guardian came to the Overworld, and then she decided she didn't like Tom…" She looked over at Ianite.

"Why are you asking me what I remember? Why am I in the End, Lady Ianite?" She asked. "I remember falling fast asleep in Mianite's temple the night before the Purge, and now I'm here."

Ianite offered a sigh. "Does the name 'Jay' ring a bell at all?" She asked, conjuring a few brewing items.

Lara shook her head, confused. "No. Is it a nickname for Jace? I've never heard it before."

Admittedly, Lara could not remember a time where Ianite had ever been big on giving anyone nicknames. The gods had never been interested in renaming their creatures, and the concept, to Lara's knowledge, had only become ideal when the Mianitees had begun showing up more frequently. The Mianitees had brought with them strange hobbies and mannerisms, and nicknames had been one of the things that had come then. While Jace had accepted the various new names he had been given, Lara had always scowled at them and asked to be left out of their little "pet names" due to preferring her own given name.

"Well, I suppose you have lost your memory," Ianite murmured, "go see Mianite to get your immortality back."

Lara got to her feet carefully and walked through the portal that Ianite summoned. Ianite was the only one of the gods able to create a portal to any of the realms with ease, being a source of balance as she was. Lara wondered, though, what Ianite meant. Lost her memories? Wouldn't she have been in pain, like one of the mortal creatures would have? Memories were lost from severe trauma – but Lara felt fine. Tired, but fine. And why had she lost her immortality?

"Did I do something wrong…?" She wondered aloud, stepping into the Aether.

Mianite wrapped her in a hug when he noticed her. "We should hurry. You will have to stop Jay from destroying the Overworld."

"Destroying the…?" She trailed off, frowning.

There was that name again. Jay. Who was Jay? Did Jay have something to do with her losing her memories and immortality? Had she helped Jay, and this was her punishment?

Her stomach knotted and she pushed her thoughts aside. "O-Of course," she answered.

Mianite held his hand out and a ball of white light hovered in his palm, before the ball shot toward Lara. It disappeared as soon as it collided with her body, sending another wave of warmth flooding through her. Lara closed her eyes before relaxing.

"Now, I must go, young one," Mianite said, vanishing.

Lara felt herself fall just a bit as she slipped from the Aether, into the Overworld. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she glanced around. Some of the mountains looked like they had been mined horribly, all jagged edges and random cracks. She tipped her head curiously at the sight, but turned away, brushed aside confusion as she forced herself to start walking.

* * *

Jace walked into Lara's old cabin. The building, itself, was standing on ever-spreading cracks in the ground. Originally, he was just going to leave Jay alone. The kid was annoying sometimes, but Jace could tell that Lara's death still hadn't faded from his mind – and he was becoming dangerous. Tom had explained what had really happened to him after the other Mianitees had left. It was worrisome that Jay was claiming to hear and see things, but to hear that his voice was being affected and he actually was acting out of his mind? That was deeply concerning.

Despite his feelings toward Jay, Jace felt at least moderately responsible. Maybe if he had not pushed Jay so hard while the younger Guardian had been recovering in the Void, Jay wouldn't have lost his cool originally. If that were the case, then Lara would still have been alive. But Jace had been reactive upon seeing Lara so upset, and he hadn't thought before going after Jay.

Not to mention, Jay's not a bad guy – even if he does have an affinity for TNT and some grudge against all of Tom's bases.

He looked around, stepping back when he noticed Jay. Jay's eyes were no longer their darkened blue. Instead, they were red. His teeth were sharpened more than Jace's own were currently, and he offered a hiss in Jace's direction upon spotting him as well.

"Jay, oh shit, man!"

* * *

Jay glared at Jace, watching as the older Guardian backed away from him. He wasn't sure whether Jace was afraid of him, or afraid of the potential of harm – but, clearly, he was afraid. Good. Jace deserved to be afraid. Everyone deserved to be afraid. Jay could vaguely feel the air crackling with some form of energy – new, yet… familiar. He could tell that the ghost wasn't enjoying the feeling because she seemed agitated.

"Sick 'im," the ghost directed, pacing the floor. "Don't kill him, though, Jay, just trap him somewhere. Somewhere he won't be able to get out of. He'll be in the way of our fun."

Jay growled, lunging forward and tackling Jace to the ground. The two fought for hand-holds on the one another. Unlike the last time they had fought, Jace was actually fighting back. Jay could feel the Netherian Guardian's claws sinking into his arms as he tried to get free and away. Jay pulled the other to his feet, though. He stomped, creating a rift in the ground, and shoved Jace toward it. Shadows lurched up immediately to meet their new prisoner, winding around his arms and legs to keep him suspended above the rift.

The ghost smiled as Jace let out a snarl, golden eyes flaring as the shadows ripped and tore at him. Jay could see bits of something like fire slipping from the older Guardian, drifting toward the ghost and disappearing into her form.

He tipped his head when the ghost's body changed. No longer did she look like Lara. Instead, she looked… different. Unfamiliar, yet… he wasn't sure. Some part of him felt like he had seen her before. She was around the same height as Lara, but had black hair and light purple eyes. The dress she wore had a slit down one side that seemed to be sewn from the galaxy. Despite some part of him reminding him that he was in love with another, a strong part of him felt drawn to this woman.

"That's better. Back to myself. Now, Jay, what about that fun?" She purred.

Jay drew back from her, unable to brush aside the small, nagging voice that he wanted no part of this woman, no matter how beautiful she was to him.

She hummed at him. "I see… Well, no matter. Soon you won't hesitate. You'll give yourself over to me completely, willing or not." A smirk crossed her face and she continued, "now, don't let me stop you. The door's right there. Go have fun, for both of us."

He growled in agreement and turned, darting out the door. He knew who his first target would be. Honestly, it should have come as no surprise.

"Tom."

He stopped in the back of Tom's house, peering through the windows. Tom wasn't inside, but Jay could make him out at the front of the house, observing the work the Wizards had done. Since rebuilding Tom's house, the Wizards had been quiet or possibly busy with other tasks. Too bad Tom wouldn't ever get the protection Jay always heard him joking about wanting. Waglington had offered it to him once, but Tom had turned it down.

Jay started around the side of the house, careful to stay out of Tom's sight. He managed to get behind Tom and stopped. Shadows coiled around the firelight of his torch and it went dark. As soon as it went out, Jay hissed and slashed sharpened claws against the Mianitee's back, sending Tom stumbling forward in pain, before he tackled Tom to the ground, red eyes alight with hate.

"I'm going to tear your heart out," Jay yelled, sinking his claws into Tom's chest. The sharp breath Tom offered was satisfying, but Jay wasted no time ripping the precious cargo out of the zombie-creature's body.

The chat-pad beeped, signaling a new notification.

 _SynHD's heart was ripped out by ENTITY_NULL._

He went for Tucker and Sonja next. The two were on their roof, enjoying the pool. Jay was sure their chat-pads were elsewhere, otherwise they wouldn't have been so happy. Sonja was sitting in a boat and trying to avoid Tucker breaking it, but he succeeded and she went down the waterslide – straight into Jay's sword.

 _OMGitsfirefoxx was impaled by ENTITY_NULL._

As if noticing that his beloved was not returning from the slide, Tucker backed away and made to grab a sword. He spun around, but Jay slipped out of his shadow, sharpened teeth closing down around the Mianitee's throat, effectively silencing the scream he was making.

 _iiJeriichoii's throat was ripped out by ENTITY_NULL._

* * *

Jordan blinked down at the messages. He'd been trying to get Polaris to sleep. The dragoness wasn't taking well to sleeping in the tree, and Jordan knew he wouldn't be able to sleep until she was fast asleep instead of pacing the bridge. He looked up when an inquisitive grumble escaped the Enderdragon. He shook his head up at her.

"Tom's just messing around," he told her.

She let out a small, disbelieving growl, and Jordan felt a terrible sense of déjà vu. The last time he had seen messages like those, it had been because Jay had been in a dangerous mindset. He knew Jay was acting strange, but he didn't think Jay would do something so violent. Then again, he hadn't spent much time with Jay. Only Jace and Polaris had really visited him. Jordan supposed he had just never made the time.

"Polar—"

He cut himself off at the sight of a hauntingly familiar, white-winged figure wandering up the pathway. His eyes locked on her arm. She wasn't wearing a chat-pad. She was looking around, frowning up at the sky as it started to storm.

"Lara," he called.

She looked over at him. "Jordan," she greeted, starting towards him.

He looked around frantically. For a short second, lightning illuminated her figure, leaving no room for argument. "Lara, how the hell are you alive? What's going on?" He whispers urgently.

"What do you mean 'alive?'" She asked. Polaris growled softly, nudging at Lara with her snout, and Lara reached up, stroking the dragon's throat. "I could ask you the same thing. Where are the others? I-I seem to have lost my chat-pad."

Jordan took off his chat-pad, handing it over to her. "Scroll through," he directed.

Polaris sat down, watching as Lara began to look through the messages. Jordan kept silent as she did, not knowing how Lara would react. She had seemed fond of Jay, despite the little amount of time they had spent together – and he knew Polaris was fond of Jay. If Jay had really done something, then—

Something covered his mouth, dragging him back into the shadows. He couldn't scream. When he opened his mouth to try, something ice-cold shoved itself down his throat. He felt like he was choking on air, and no matter how much he tried, he couldn't make a noise past whatever was in his throat.

"I gave you your chance months ago, Jordan," Jay's voice snarled quietly in his ear before something crashed into his spine and kept going, even as Jordan started to lose feeling in his body.

* * *

 ** _A/N: Yes, this is being posted a day early - because I'm probably going to be at a cookout tomorrow. It's one of my relative's anniversary. Admittedly, I might post a second chapter of this later in the week, or two next week - because there's something I really want to share that's in the next chapter. There's actually a second thing in a later chapter, but that's a few chapters away from the next one._**

 ** _I may also be posting a couple of one-shots, and a chapter of another project this week. It depends on how patient I can be on whether or not I'll wait until the next week or so to post things. Admittedly - and whether or not this is good in your opinion - I'm rather impatient and impulsive._**


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

 _CaptainSparklez was slain by Jay._

Lara looked down at the message on the chat-pad as Polaris stomped around the room, snarling at the darkness as she searched it for Jordan's killer. Lara's own attention, however, was drawn to the name of said killer – Jay. There that name was again. It was the same name Ianite had mentioned; the same name Mianite had mentioned. Why was this Jay person trying to destroy everything? What had she potentially assisted in with this person that Ianite would claim she knew him and Mianite would claim he needed to be stopped from destroying the Overworld?

"Who is Jay?" She wondered aloud, biting her bottom lip as she tried to come up with memories she could not find.

Polaris whined, apparently given up on her search, and walked over to Lara. She placed her head underneath the older Guardian's hand, raising her neck to meet Lara's eyes. Lara instinctively matched her glance, feeling woozy as she did. When she stumbled a bit, she found herself no longer standing in the tree.

She glanced around. The area she was now in was full of images and scenes that she recognized from the past, and some she did not. They must have been memories Polaris had, or ones she had adopted from those who had pet her. She caught glimpse of Jordan warily meeting Polaris; of Tom running from fire after one of Polaris' attempts at burning down his home; of Sonja and Tucker sitting alone and talking – a memory she wondered how Polaris had, when Sonja and Tucker had never been left alone with her for longer than a moment due to Jordan's fear of letting her from his sight.

Ianite. Mianite. Jordan. Jordan. Jordan. Jace. Tom. Jordan. Jordan. Lara, herself. Jordan. Jace. Jace. J—

 _Who?_

Lara blinked, staring at the unfamiliar face that had suddenly become so frequent in the memories. The figure was a male with dark hair and blue eyes. For the first few visions, his eyes were lit with playful teasing, similar to that of Jace's or one of the Mianitee's, signifying he had been up to tricks. In the majority, however, his eyes seemed haunted – sad and lonely and lost. Devoid of the joy and life she had seen.

In no image was this man dangerous, and her heart ached for him. "Are you Jay?" She asked the figure, wishing it could answer her, "Why would you… kill Jordan?"

Another vision suddenly assaulted her, whisking away the sight of the stranger from her. Instead, she saw herself, wings horribly messy and body seeming to lack any real presence. Her eyes, burning gold, filled with such pity.

" _Jay, let me help you."_

" _I am beyond help, Lara! There is no help."_

"… _No one is beyond help…"_

" _You—You don't care… no one does. It was me, me and the shadows! My father tried to protect me and he's dead!"_

She frowned. The longer she watched, the more familiar the words seemed to her. Polaris would not lie. The little dragoness was not the type to trick or manipulate, and why would she be? She was Ianite's Guardian, raised by Jordan. Neither the goddess, nor her follower, were frequent liars in anything outside of games.

And Ianite had acted strangely when she had asked who Jay was. She had acted like Lara should have obviously known of him.

" _What… What have you done?"_

" _Made it so only one of us will die today."_

" _Stop… Don't you fucking dare, Lara. I… I'm not doing it without you… dammit."_

She softened her gaze.

Why had she forgotten him? If this was the same person to be doing such horrible things, then why would he do these kind things? Why would Mianite send her after him without explaining this to her? She knew Ianite had rushed her leave because it was imperative she get her immortality returned, lest the scene she was now watching replay itself out again, but Mianite had made no attempt to tell her anything. He had said only that Jay needed to be stopped.

" _You should never have gone through what you did, Jay, and I'm sorry. It's all because of me."_

 _I'm so sorry,_ she thought. _How cruel am I to have forgotten you? Did I lead you to this? Jay…_

" _I-I was once told… that if you truly love something… you'll let it go… Lara, do you wish to be let go?"_

" _No, but I wish you would be."_

The memory faded as soon as she kissed him in it. She hesitated a moment, watching as another formed and she saw who she guessed to be Jay with…

Herself.

 _No, not me,_ she corrected inwardly. The resemblance was uncanny.

The thing wearing her form watched Jay at first from across the room, glaring at him accusingly. At first, Jay did not seem to enjoy its presence. He pulled away from it after nervously calling it by her name. When it only disappeared, he seemed keen on pretending it had never existed. The next time it appeared, time had seemed to pass and Lara witnessed it sit on Jay's bed next to him. The closeness seemed uncomfortable and Jay lashed out at it, only for it to wordlessly vanish. The next time it appeared, it tormented him, putting words in her mouth that Lara would never say. It called him an idiot in a cruel manner. It attempted to seduce him. It blamed him.

The vision vanished, and Lara waited for another to appear. When one did not, she smirked. Whether or not she wanted to linger on Mianite's strange silence over the matter, she understood and remembered now.

"Alright. I think I might have an idea," she said, "good girl, Polaris. Ready to fix this?"

"Hell yeah," Polaris enthused. "What? It's my own damn mind. I can talk."

Lara watched as the tree came back into view and Polaris crouched, prepared to fly. Jay had taught her, right? She remembered seeing Polaris unhappily trying to glide from a tree with Jay standing under her – one of the few times he had smiled after Lara's apparent death.

She shook her head at the Enderdragon. "Go tell Ianite that there's someone here to visit the gods. I'm not going with you. There's something I want to try," she informed, "tell the gods to wait for a while, though. Give me a chance before they step in."

Polaris nodded and vanished in a flurry of ender particles, leaving Lara alone in Jerry's Tree.

 _Jay, I'm so sorry,_ Lara thought, _I did this to you. I put so much pressure on you to act as I would have wanted. The most I can hope is to alleviate your worries, and I… I hope you will forgive me._

* * *

Polaris bounded over to Ianite as soon as she entered the End. "My lady! There is a visitor. I don't know who," she relayed.

Ianite tapped her chin. Polaris knew her appearance was sudden, but Lara could fix things. Lara would make Jay stop, and make him feel better. He had missed her so much. Polaris had watched him spiral downward into something unrecognizable. No longer smiling. No longer pranking. Jay was not one to cause harm like this. Something had happened, and Lara would fix it.

"Lara sent you?" Ianite asked. "Then perhaps it is as I feared…"

Polaris wondered what her fears had been. _Lara's amnesia, maybe?_ She guessed, deciding to nod to show she understood. Even if she had guessed wrong, Ianite was worried about something and Polaris got that.

"Your help will be instrumental. But…"

Polaris tipped her head curiously to one side. Ianite snapped her fingers and a purple mist seemed to form out of thin air, swirling itself around the dragoness. When it dispersed, Polaris blinked. The ground was closer. Instead of standing taller than Ianite, she was now forced to raise her chin to meet Ianite's gaze. Ianite conjured a mirror and handed it to her, and Polaris stared for a moment when she reached for it – not with her clawed feet, but with _hands_.

Reflected in the mirror was a young woman with obsidian-purple hair going down to her waist and vibrant purple-pink eyes. Polaris watched the figure, breath caught in her throat. She realized after a moment that the figure was not a stranger to her – it was her. She was looking at her own reflection. She had no idea whether she wanted to cry or celebrate.

"T-Thank you, Milady," she stuttered out, handing the mirror back so she could brush her hair away from her face.

Ianite smiled at her. "You're welcome, my dear."

Polaris bounced on her feet a few times. "Oh! Lara wants to attempt something," she rushed out, "she wanted a moment to herself to try it. I'm not sure what it is, though, she didn't say."

* * *

Jay snarled to himself. Being locked in a room with the ex-ghost – whose name he has learned was Chaos, fittingly enough – was unbearable. The more energy she drainws from Jace, the more… alluring she appeared to him and the stranger she behaved. How he had ever believed she was Lara, he no longer understood. He did not linger on Lara long, though. Every thought of her now brought physical pain, causing him to wince and grasp his head.

Chaos was pestering him about being a king or something. She kept playfully asking to be his new queen, and implying things that he had no interest in taking part of. Not with her. He knew she was just trying to influence him, but he felt weakened. Drained, himself, despite losing nothing.

 _Everything,_ some small part of him corrected, sending another wave of pain through him.

Chaos, sitting on the bed and absently watching Jace as he flickered in and out of existence a bit, lifted her head suddenly. Jay noticed a smirk cross her face. Some large, new part of him lit up, eager for what he knew would be an order. Something to do. Something to fetch or kill for his que—

For Chaos.

"Ah… sweet girl," she whispered, glance turning to Jace. Jay scowled over at the Dianite-spawn for taking away her attention from him. "Come to save you, or perhaps her love? A useless plight."

If Jay had a tail, it would be wagging when Chaos' attention fell over to him. The part of him that longed to please her threatened to swallow him whole. "Go and get me the toy outside," Chaos directed, "this Guardian is becoming worthless to me. His energy is almost gone, and that one outside is burning bright still."

Something in the pit of Jay's chest flared almost angrily at her words, but he forced it down easily enough. His own energy swarmed around it and smothered it until it fell still. It returned to its warm, sleeping state, allowing his energy to coil around it again.

 _Of course,_ he thought as he darted outside, eager to please in spite of vaguely knowing that his behavior was wrong. He could not fight it, though. Her control was stronger than his will, and the more energy she stole, the less power he had over himself. _Of course I will. Anything for you. I'd do anything for you._

He followed the energy he sensed. There was so much of it, all focused in one spot. As he grew closer to it, it only grew broader, encompassing his attention. He growled and pounced forward, hoping to retrieve Chaos' new toy for her and be rewarded.

But the person who spun around at the last second – the person he knocked to the ground in desire to capture – was familiar. She made only a tiny noise as he pinned her to the ground. Her wings were splayed out underneath her like those of a butterfly on display, and her blue eyes, locked with his, were as fearful of him as a rabbit's eyes would be to a wolf about to tear it apart for food.

"H-Hell-Hello," she stuttered as he breathed in her scent.

She smelt nice. Familiar. In spite of that, he bore his teeth down at her, but fought himself not to attack. He did not want to attack her. He could bring himself to attack her, despite Chaos' wishes.

She squirmed underneath his, wincing and turning her head to the side. He noticed that she had gotten a small nick on her neck. It hardly bled, but panic washed over him at the sight and the whimper she offered. She had been harmed. A rock had scraped her throat, and he felt panicked. If he had not knocked her to the ground, she would be fine.

"Lara," he called worriedly.

His teeth and claws retracted, before he felt Chaos' hold force itself over him again. They elongated once again, and suddenly, he was aware of the pain caused by them. It felt like someone was trying to rip out his teeth and break his top knuckles on his hands.

"W-Who… Who are y-you…?" She asked.

He whimpered, both from physical pain as his features reverted to normal again, and from the feeling of loss that washed over him. She did not remember? Had he hurt her so much by causing her death that she had blocked her memory of him?

"You don't remember?" He asked, putting his hand to her cheek softly.

"Remember what?" She responded.

Her eyes softened in spite of her words. He wondered whether or not he saw familiarity in them, but brushed it aside. Lara had never been a liar. Why would she start now? She leaned into his touch, but he pulled his hand away, getting to his feet.

"Us," he answered, "me and you."

Pain shot through his skull suddenly, and he gripped his head, not hearing what she opened her mouth to say. He glanced at her through narrowed, pained eyes. She seemed worried.

 _Not about me, though. She doesn't even know who I am,_ he thought.

"Come along, Jay. I don't have all night. Bring the birdie inside and put it in its cage so we can listen to it sing pretty songs," Chaos ordered. Jay realized that she was standing somewhere near him now. The desire to please her nearly choked him.

"W-What?" Lara asked.

"B-But… No. I won't hurt her, Chaos," he said, trying his best to battle the migraine that the ex-ghost was trying to use to make him submissive.

"Do it," Chaos snapped, "or… better yet, go kill the Guardian in the house. Make sure he can never bother us again. He wanted to kill you once, didn't he? Your revenge should be sweet."

" _Dammit, Jace. Come on, would it really look good to Lara if I killed you?!"_

His stomach knotted. Those were his words to Jace, when Jace had come trying to kill him. He could acknowledge it then, and he could still now. If he so much as harmed Jace, Lara would hate him forever. She loved her brother so much, and he had known that since seeing them together. Jace was the one thing that made Lara happy, outside of how Jay had thought he could. If he harmed Jace, he was sealing his position in her eyes – and Chaos knew that.

He frowned, reaching down to Lara and pulling her up by her arm. "Fine," he conceded.

Before Chaos could so much as respond to him, Jay bent and used his free arm to reach under Lara's knees, slinging her up and over his shoulder. She let out a protesting noise, but seemed to adjust to the position easily enough.

 _You sound so cute when you're flustered, Lara,_ he thought. _You always have…_

He stepped back toward the cabin, pausing only for a moment. "Fuck you, Chaos," he growled.

He walked inside and freed Jace, lifting Jace up when the Netherian Guardian nearly fell. Jace was too weak to stand. His body was barely stable enough to exist with all of the energy that Chaos had stolen from him. Just breathing seemed to be difficult for him now. If Jay was angry with him at all, this was certainly revenge enough. Jace had never looked so weak before.

When Jay leapt into the Void, Lara made a much louder protesting noise and started to frantically try to free herself, but Jay held her tighter. If she got away from him, she would be in danger. He knew it must have felt horrible to her. Even to him, being in the Void felt like his chest was constricted and he had been dumped into ice-water. Vaguely, he wondered whether or not it had always felt so dreadful to him.

"Listen," he said hurriedly, "I have energy for one teleport. Everyone focus on Mianite's temple."

He focused on teleporting. He closed his eyes and tried to pick up on the energy around him, using it to sense where to go.

And where the three of them wound up left him cursing Jace's very existence.

* * *

 ** _A/N: You will be getting two chapters this week! Because I originally planned this and the next chapter as one, and then I noticed that I had finished editing what became this chapter and it was already seven pages. Also, when I originally wrote this chapter, I wrote it all in present tense - so I had to change it all back to past tense. Yeah, that was mildly embarrassing._**


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

As soon as they arrived in the Nether, Jace felt better. Mostly because they had been unceremoniously dropped into a lava pit, which caused Jay to let out a sharp noise and a "Dammit, Jace!"

Jace kicked Jay in the stomach to get free, staying in the lava while Jay immediately clambered out and Lara carefully put out flames that had appeared in his hair. Lara's clothes, Jace noticed, were only slightly burnt and she seemed unfazed save for her slightly-charred feathers. Jay hissed in pain as he paced around. Jace followed his with his eyes, content to stay curled up in the lava and purr.

Jace raised his head when he heard coughing. He climbed out of the pit and ran toward the source of the sound, stopping at a corridor marked _Guardian Two_. He blinked at the sign.

 _Furia?_ He wondered. _Is this… Is this where Furia stays?_

He glanced over his shoulder and noticed that Lara was flicking her wings, trying to shake sparks of fire that had newly appeared on her longest feathers. Jay was still whining about being dumped into lava. Jace was happy to see Lara again, but his curiosity drew him down the hall, away from the others.

On her hands and knees, in a cell near the end of the corridor, was a girl around his age. She was coughing and wheezing, almost hacking. Her head rose to meet his eyes, and Jace found himself staring at identical eyes to his own – amber and glowing. Her hair was flowing like molten lava down her back, not hiding the two, nervously flapping wings that she had or the tail that twitched anxiously behind her as she drew to her feet. She was only a few inches shorter than Lara. Her hair ran just below her navel, standing against her tanned skin.

"Who-Who are you?!" She demanded.

"I'm Jace. I'm Dianite's…" He hesitated a moment, unsure of what to call himself. Was he Dianite's first Guardian? What about Furia? Dianite had called Furia a Guardian once.

He shook his head and said, "I'm Dianite's Guardian. I-I…"

 _I don't know what else to say to you,_ he thought. _Who are you? Why does Dianite have a second Guardian? What's going on? There's no smart remark that's going to fix this._ He swallowed and inwardly added, _am I being replaced? Does Dianite want to kill me?_

Jay walked around the corner, supporting himself with the wall. "Jace, what's up?" He asked.

Jace waved a hand at the young woman. "Dianite… and…"

He paused a moment before spinning around and ramming his fist into Jay's face. When Jay reeled back in pain, it was mildly satisfying. Jay deserved that. The last time they had fought, Jace had let him take potshots. Now it was revenge, as well as dropping him into lava.

"Sorry?" Jay offered with a sigh once he recovered. Jace could tell he was annoyed that he had been punched, but Jace hardly cared.

Jace pointed a finger at him. "You deserved that. You deserved that for letting your new damn god nearly drain me dry. You deserved that for being an asshole. And you deserved it for killing _everyone_ ," he snarled.

"Damn. They'll respawn at some point." He rubbed at his face, probably massaging the new bruise that would form, or wondering something. "Where is Lara?"

"Up here," Lara called, ducking over the edge of the top of the corridor. "I wanted to see where we were, so I was breaking through part of the ceiling."

Jay nodded. "Understandable. Well, let's break her out."

He watched as Jay drew shadows from the fire in the Nether and forced them forward into a blast. It hit the cell, forcing it open. The young lady immediately leapt out of her prison, wrapping her arms around Jay as she bombarded him with "thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Err… you're welcome," Jay replied, climbing to his feet. "Let's go."

Jace's tail flitted around angrily behind him. He felt jealous. He had found her first. Why was Jay getting all of the attention? He spun and darted out of the hole Lara had opened, ignoring her as he passed her.

* * *

Lara watched Jace go, feeling bad for her brother. Seeing Jay being showered with affection that was not coming from herself made her stomach knot uncomfortably. She would have loved to greet him similarly, but she feared allowing him to know she remembered. It would hurt him and give that phantom a better hold over him. She forced herself not to cast her glance away from Jay, looking for any sign from him that he was uncomfortable, but he seemed distracted by the woman fawning over him.

"It'll probably take her a while to learn to use those wings right," she pointed out, "you should take her and go ahead."

The girl wrapped her arms around Jay's shoulders, allowing him to scoop her up and take off from the fortress floor while she blushed. Lara watched him trail after Jace and followed behind them both. Jay shifted her to a different position in his arms, causing her ire to rise a bit.

 _I wish I was in your arms,_ she thought, _instead, here I am, acting cautious of you._

* * *

Jay landed at the Nether portal, carefully setting the girl on her feet. She seemed like she was only begrudgingly allowing him to do so, and got onto her tip-toes to kiss his cheek. Jace had already gone through the portal and, quite honestly, Jay was a bit thankful when the girl did as well. He turned and walked to the edge of the cliff that he was standing on, looking down at the sea of lava below.

"It's Jay, right?" Lara asked, walking to stand behind him. "I could push you in. I _should_ push you in. Mianite wants me to stop you from destroying the Overworld. I'd say pushing you into lava would probably stop you."

 _You really don't remember, do you?_ He thought. _Please, just say you're torturing me. Burning alive would be better than this._

He shrugged his shoulders. "Go ahead. I don't mind." He scooted closer to the edge, dangling his legs precariously and invitingly over the side. "I could hang off the edge and you can stomp my fingers," he offered.

Lara hummed. Jay hated that it sounded like she was really considering it. She must have hated him.

"No. I guess that wouldn't really do much. You could still probably find a way to drag yourself out of it. Besides." She knelt behind him. "You glow. You know that, right?"

He raised a brow at her. "I glow? Please. Tell me more. Meanwhile, I can conjure you a knife." He conjured a silver dagger and handed it to her. "Here, use this. But please, explain the glowing."

She took the dagger from him. " _Well,_ " she said, drawing out the word before telling him, "you just… glow. Your energy does. It's muffled a bit and it looks like it's just forced to stay right in your chest, like some outside force is keeping it there, but it's there. I'm not sure what you are, really. Jace's energy is red; Polaris' is purples. I'm the only one whose energy is gold, and yet… so are you, a little bit."

He could hear her tossing the dagger up and down as she continued, "See, energy omits a glow based on its potency. The weaker the shine, the less energy you have – but a bright glow, like yours, means that the amount is massive. Yours is… caged. Something else wants it to stay there and never, ever move, no matter what you do."

"So… theoretically speaking," he said, "if I released it, would I implode or something?"

He spread his wings, wondering why she had not yet ended his life. "Anytime you like," he reminded.

"I don't know," she admitted to him. "I don't know everything. I just know that it's an after-effect of a creatures' creation. Their… soul, or something. An affinity, maybe. If it's drain, the entire body suffers from just a complete loss of the will to fight."

He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I think you might be wrong there. Otherwise, I'd be pretty dim. I only have one reason to fight."

"One reason is still enough of a reason. Maybe that reason is what's keeping that light from leaving you. As long as you keep believing that you'll get it, maybe it won't leave," she guessed, offering a quiet "boop" as she prodded one of his wings with the dagger.

He allowed a ghost of a smile to cross his face at the small bit of playfulness and at the knowledge that, despite losing _his_ Lara, Lara was still alive. Not his, but alive. He was beginning to believe that he could not bring her back to him, but if Lara was happy, then so was he. He could give up his chance to be with her. If fate wanted them to be together, then they would be. This would be a small bump in the road.

And if fate had decided it had made a mistake and it was now rectifying it, then he would be happy just be around her and watch her smile.

"I don't plan on letting anything happen to her," he muttered to himself.

"Then maybe that's that," she said, "maybe that's all you need to think of. Maybe, whoever she is, she doesn't want you to lose hope."

 _She's you,_ he wanted to say. _Do you want me to hope, Lara?_

"I dunno. Things suck pretty bad. Mianite wants me dead, eh? I'm a tough fucker to kill," he pointed out, "but you can. Go ahead. Nothing is forever. Everything ends. That's the way it goes."

"Well he didn't say 'dead.' He said to stop you from destroying the Overworld," she informed, "I guess I could borrow one of Dianite's prison cells. One of the ones with lava under it. I know where they all are… but that would be like pushing you in lava, and, like I said, that's escapable."

"Any way it goes. Damned if I do, damned if I don't," he stated

"Tell me about you," she requested.

"About me…" He sighed. "Well, when the Shadow, Slayer of Gods, saw the gods creating 'Guardians,' he made one as well. The gods had saw fit to limit their power, or it would backfire. Shadow did no such thing. I am literally spawned from the blackest pits even hellish creatures are afraid of. My only friend was a shadow. A living, breathing shadow. I saw fit to name him Cronus. I trained in fighting because I would need it. I had no limit. So the Fates set forth a curse: 'the boy would lead to his own demise. His reckless behavior and energy levels would screw him in the long run.'" Jay rolled his shoulders. "I came above ground… And, well, you would have known."

"Well I don't. Summarize it for me," she suggested, moving to sit next to him. She pulled her knees close and set her head down on them, looking over at him. "Tell me what happens next, Jay."

"The dashing knight meets a beautiful princess. Unfortunately, they have a... falling out, you could call it. The boy tries to destroy the girl's father. But can't bring himself to shoot her. He is imprisoned. And the girl saves him. At a cost. He tries to fix this. But doesn't foresee how badly it would hurt her. He comes back, and in her dying moments, they confess their feelings. They kiss as she fades," he told her, adding, "He's tormented. By a woman named Chaos. She pretends to be the princess's ghost. He's taken over but snaps out of it. Alas, the girl will never remember him. And he doesn't care. So long as she is happy."

Lara watched him for a long moment before getting to her feet and walking away from him. He thought he could see her shoulders trembling a bit and had seen heartache in her eyes, but it was easy enough to blame on his imagination. He wanted her back so badly; of course he would see her reacting when she truly was not.

"That's… so sad," she offered, voice wavering slightly.

He glanced over at her, following her with his eyes as she stopped near the edge of the cliff a few yards away from him. She kicked at the netherrack below her feet and the lava bubbled, signaling some had fallen into it and was being burned into nothing.

 _Lara… please smile for me,_ he thought, feeling as though he had betrayed her by telling her the truth.

He was about to turn away, but stopped when the netherrack cracked underneath Lara's feet. "No," she hollered.

Jay sprung up immediately, knowing that she would not be capable of drawing out her wings quickly enough to stop herself from plummeting into the lava. Lara was fast, but she was lacking time to catch herself before she could meet a fiery demise.

He pushed off of the ledge after her, spreading his wings and pushing himself toward the lava. He went low enough that he could feel the flames burn at his stomach before he spun, back facing the lava, and caught her. The sudden impact forced him down, causing the lava to do more than graze his spine as he sunk a bit into it. He hissed.

"Crash landing," he shouted before he slammed into a netherrack island in the middle of the lava sea, wings feeling as though they were melting.

After catching his breath, he unraveled his arms from around her. "Y-You alright?" He asked.

She nodded. "I think the cliff nicked one of my wings, but it feels alright," she answered, extending her left wing and grimacing at the splotch of red that had stained a patch of feathers. She lowered the wing and climbed off of him. "You're not, though, are you?"

He offered a shrug, which only proved to hurt him when his wings shifted at the movement of his shoulders. "Void wings. Resistant to fire. Probably not lava, though," he admitted, turning and closing his eyes. "What's the damage?"

Lara winced. For someone with a healing ability to wince, Jay realized that it did not sound good at all. "Um… it doesn't look… wonderful?"

"Yeah. You're going to explain further," he said sarcastically.

"No, I'm not," she retorted.

Jay felt a hand rest in the center of his back. Suddenly, the warm energy in his body seemed to awaken again. His own energy let it slip free, in too much pain to try and focus on stopping it. The warm energy moved from his chest, up his spine, and into his wings. It settled there until his wings felt better, and then returned to its rest in his chest.

"Nice one. Now let's go. I fucking hate this place," he muttered.

Lara got to her feet and flew through the portal. Jay started after her, realizing that his new task was to stop Chaos. He stopped in front of the portal.

"I'd be my own demise, hmm?" He shuddered and entered the portal.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Second chapter for the week. I might do this if I have something that I'm eager to share, or if a cliff-hanger was placed because a chapter was too long to be put up as a single chapter without separating into two pieces (as was the case with this one).**_


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Jace followed close behind the stranger as she flew around. It seemed, to him, that she had the same trouble with Overworld navigation that he did, and he could guess why. She had been locked up in the Nether – kept there like a prisoner – and he wondered if Dianite had ever let her out of her cell. If he had, he had only done it when Jace was away. Jace had never seen this woman before, and he couldn't call up a memory where his cohabitants of the Nether had been anyone outside of the mobs, Dianite, and Furia.

He stopped flying when he noticed the woman turn in the air, her tail flitting around behind him. Instinctively, he drew himself back at the sharp, furious look in her eyes. "Are you _following me?"_ She demanded.

"I… No?" He replied, before shaking his head and correcting himself, "Yes. Yes, I am – but only because I thought you might get lost, and… and because I want to understand who you are. I'm not trying to be weird, I promise. Lara taught me better than that."

"Well, stop," the woman growled.

Jace opened his mouth to protest, as he truly did want to learn who this girl was, but he closed it quickly. "I'm sorry," he offered, "I didn't mean to freak you out."

She huffed and crossed her arms. Her golden eyes were still narrowed accusingly, but her posture seemed more relaxed. Jace inwardly questioned whether or not his apology was acceptable in her eyes, but he did not want to draw any further negative attention. Jace let himself fly back and forth a bit as his nerves recognized that he was under strict scrutiny.

"Who are you?" She asked.

Jace blinked. "I-I told you. I'm Dianite's Guardian. My name is Jace, and—"

"Who are you _outside_ of that?" She inquired.

"Lara's brother," he answered. "Lara's—"

"—That girl who was in the Nether with the void-born and you," she finished, before asking Jace again, "who are you?"

Jace frowned, wringing his hands because he did not understand her question any longer. "I don't get it," he admitted.

The stranger rolled her eyes, hands moving to her hips. "You're telling me that you're only relevant because of your connections to Dianite and that girl?" She said.

"No," he replied, "That's just how I'm used to introducing myself. When people meet me, they either associate me with Dianite or with Lara. I'm Jace. I'm the Netherian Guardian. I'm fucking awesome, and I'm the best damn prankster in the Overworld, Jay be damned. That kid only knows how to use TNT and redstone. Boring!"

She offered him a smile. "There. That's much better."

Jace nodded, realizing that he liked the sound of his own introduction – although, he inwardly admitted it could use work. All of his existence, he had been paired up with Lara or with Dianite. If one of them went somewhere, it was easy to be with them. The Mianitees had gotten used to acknowledging him in relation to another person, never as an individual. He supposed he had just never found a reason to complain when he was called "Lara's little brother" or "Dianite's Guardian."

"So what's your name?" He asked.

She shook her head at him. "I don't have one."

"Uh… well, I suck at naming things," he admitted. "How about… Amber?"

"Why?"

"Your eye-color."

"Oh."

"Look, I said I sucked, okay? Don't be angry. Don't—"

Jace felt the woman press a kiss against his cheek before she spun around and darted off in the direction of Mianite's temple. He blinked, pressing a hand against his cheek. This was the second time he felt genuinely speechless today, and it took him a moment to recover enough to warily follow after Amber, wondering how she knew the direction to the temple.

* * *

Lara looked around as she exited the Nether portal. Jace and the woman were nowhere to be seen. "They must have gone to Mianite's temple for a breather," she mumbled. Admittedly, she had been hoping Jace would linger near the portal so she could properly greet her brother. After months of not seeing him, she wondered how he was fairing.

"How can he breathe sucking face with that one girl," Jay joked as he exited the portal behind her, a hand brought up to the back of his neck in an absent rub.

Lara huffed. _You managed well enough, s_ he thought.

"You mean the one who kissed you and didn't want to leave your arms?" She grumbled, stepping forward.

She stopped walking when she realized that she had no idea where to go. Nervousness settled over her. What if the gods got impatient? Polaris could not hold them off forever, not by herself. She knew the dragoness lacked the protective compulsiveness that Lara, herself, had chaining her to Mianite's beck and call, but Polaris would still follow Ianite if she felt her goddess was doing the correct thing. Lara knew, also, that Mianite was just as guilty of his haste for action as Dianite was, and Dianite would sense all that Jace had gone through because of Chaos' control over Jay. Jay, who would be powerless against the gods if Dianite and Mianite truly came for him.

"Hey. Don't blame me," Jay grumbled, "come on. Let's find Ianite. I at least like her a little bit."

Before Jay could leave Declan's designated area, he was tackled to the ground by a stranger. Or… not a stranger, Lara guessed. She could sense familiar energy pooling off of the girl, colored a dark purple. She blinked, watching as Jay was licked on the face by the overzealous girl.

"Oh my gods, who are you?" Jay demanded, struggling, " _Why are you licking me?!_ "

"Polaris?" Lara guessed. "How did you…? I mean, you look lovely, but… how?"

"Lady Ianite," Polaris answered, getting to her feet and allowing Jay to his. Lara walked over, intent on getting a better look at Polaris' human-form. It was odd to see the dragoness looking like a human, especially looking close to her own physical age. Polaris was younger, but Lara supposed Enderdragons did mature faster than regular creatures, even herself, Jay, and Jace.

After a moment of apologizing to Jay for knocking him down and licking his face, Polaris slammed her right fist into Jay's face. "The fuck is Jordan, bitch?" She accused.

Lara lowered Polaris' arm before the dragoness could try punching him again. "Polaris, there is a time and a place for hitting someone," she scolded, before looking over at Jay, who was recovering, "that being said, I agree with Polaris wholeheartedly. Why isn't anyone respawning? Did Chaos do something to cause this?"

Jay shrugged. "Possibly. Remember when I was trapped in that pit, and was about to die?" He asked.

 _Dianite's prison?_ Lara wondered, but instead asked, "you mean the lava pit we all fell into thanks to Jace?"

Jay shook his head. "Forgot. Memory," he said, "anyway, point is: yeah, it's most likely her."

"So if we defeat her, then we can fix everything? That's essentially what you're saying," Lara acknowledged. She looked over at Polaris. "Speaking of defeating and fixing things… Polaris, if you're here… then who's keeping the gods away?"

Polaris tapped her chin as if in thought. "No one," she cheered.

Jay rolled his eyes. "They'll be after me. It's best if you went to tell Mianite you spotted the traitor."

 _"If you see this boy again, capture him!"_

Lara blinked. _What was that?_ She wondered. _When did Mianite tell me to capture someone? And… a boy?_

" _I don't want Mianite to find you,"_

She noticed Jay had left and Polaris was sending her a confused glance. Lara shook her head, deciding to push aside the strange voices. If they were not being harmful, then she could acknowledge them at a later time – perhaps never.

"Traitor," she echoed, laughing, "like he has ever worked for Mianite… Hey, Polaris. Do you want to play a game?"

"Sure! But I'm not following the laser dot," Polaris replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"Laser dot?" Lara asked. An unbidden image of Polaris chasing a small, red dot came to mind, reflected clearly from Lara's precious trek through the Enderdragon's memories. She shook her head again, deciding not to ask who had been foolish enough to tease a dragon.

"The game is who can go the longest without Jay finding out that I remember him," she explained, "What do you think? Are you up for the challenge?"

Polaris sighed. "I'm not such a good liar," she admitted, "and don't you think that's a bit mean?"

"If Jay doesn't know that I remember, then he has no reason to falsely believe I'm angry with him. And if he doesn't believe that, then Chaos loses that bit of control over him."

"Okie dokie."

Lara offered her a smile, despite feeling guilty for asking Polaris to lie. She started toward Mianite's temple, but stopped when she did not hear Polaris following behind her or making to leave. She turned around. Polaris was standing in the same spot she had been, with a light blush on her face, and her weight shifting between her feet almost nervously.

"H-Hey, Lara. You think there are any boy Enderdragons?" She asked, voice laced with embarrassed hesitancy.

Lara searched her own memory for an answer, but all she could recall were legends. Most Enderdragons were born female, which is why the eggs were so rare to find. At one point, though, she had heard that each of the realms had a dragon of sorts. She had never seen one anywhere but the End, though – and she had only ever met Syrreth and Polaris, both females.

"Perhaps, although myths state that most are female," she answers, recounting her knowledge to Polaris, who frowned.

"Jay made something once, though," she attempted desperately.

Lara hummed, deciding to remain neutral. She did not know what to tell Polaris. The dragoness clearly wanted, and deserved, companionship. She knew that Polaris would take the deaths of their friends the hardest when, one day, the Mianitees would stop respawning. Lara and Jace were all too familiar with death, but Polaris would be new to it. Polaris needed someone outside of the Guardians to have to comfort her.

"We'll find something, Polaris," Lara offered, starting again toward Mianite's temple. Polaris started off toward Jordan's house, and Lara added quietly, "I promise you."

* * *

 _ **A/N: Originally, the first scene between Jace and the newly-named (not newly named at all, but newly named here) Amber wasn't in existence. I realized, though, that my co-author and I literally did nothing ever again with her, and it didn't make sense for her to just disappear after we first meet her, so I wanted to try and add her in. Of course, I don't want to alter main story things, so she'll be more of a side-character/potential romance for Jace.**_


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

Jay reappeared outside of the cabin, content not to feel Chaos' influence pour over him as it had previously. He could hear her pacing inside of _Lara's_ house and he gritted his teeth. She did not belong there. The cabin belonged to Lara, not to some petty little ex-ghost, self-claimed goddess. With a quiet growl, he walked inside and, upon noticing that Chaos was paying no attention to the door, threw a punch at her. It connected and he pulled his arm back. Despite having been raised to believe it wrong to ever raise a hand at a lady, it felt justified against her.

She recovered quickly, frowning at him like a chastising maternal figure. "Now, now, Jay, that's not very nice," she scolded, "one should treat a lady better."

"As if, bitch," he retorted, lowering and sweeping his leg out toward hers, trying to knock her down.

Chaos simply stepped over his leg, as if dodging him was effortless. A smirk drew across her face. "Didn't it feel good to let some of that rage out? Didn't it feel _better?_ "

"Fuck this. If I have to, I will drag you down to the Void myself," he threatened.

"And never see the woman you love again? How cute," she commented.

"She-She forgot. Better to let her live normally," he reasoned, silently cursing Chaos. The goddess had been with him for months, and obviously some time before then to have been able to take Lara's form as easily as she did.

He lunged forward, darkness swirling into claws at his fingertips. When he was within a breath of her, she flicked her wrist. A strong force slammed into Jay's chest, sending him flying toward a wall before he could even try to strike out at her. He clawed fruitlessly against the invisible force as Chaos approached him, a sympathetic smile on her face.

"Silly little boy. You really don't know, do you?"

"Don't know what?" He demanded. His feet suddenly hit the ground and he plucked a double-edge scythe from a shadow near him.

"Why, that she remembers everything, of course," Chaos answered. "She's been playing you for a fool since she saw you. I was hoping you'd actually kill her dearest brother, or at least injure him a bit. It would've made her stop. I was only looking out for your best interest, my dear."

"Y-You lie!"

He slammed the bottom of the scythe against the ground, opening a rift at his feet. Lara would not lie to him. She would not. And he was definitely not about to trust this ex-ghost who had tormented him for months, stealing Lara's form and making him believe she hated him.

"One-way trip," he growled as the cracks at the edges of the rift began to spread greedily.

Chaos stepped away from the rift, giving him a look. "I've never lied to you, Jay. You wanted to see her, and I let you. You wanted revenge, and I gave it to you. You wanted not to feel the pain, and I took it away from you."

 _I wanted to see Lara, not a fake. I wanted to beat Jace senseless for coming after me, but I didn't want him to go through what you did to him. I wanted everything back to normal, not to be a puppet,_ he corrected inwardly, _I never asked for you. I never wanted you!_

The cracks spread continuously further as Jay grabbed her arm, abandoning the scythe. "Deceit doesn't work on the damned. Any last words?"

"Yes, actually," she chuckled.

Jay's stomach knotted when her body changed in front of him. Where Chaos had been standing was now Lara – or what looked to be Lara. Jay knew better than to believe the woman whose arm he now held in a death grip was the woman he'd come to love and lose.

"That's a beautiful light in your chest," Chaos said, voice a perfect mimic of Lara's. "Did you know that it ties you to the other person for as long as it exists in you? I'll bet you did. Which means, if I squeeze _right_ here…"

Chaos jerked her free arm forward, toward his chest. Instead of stopping when it hit, though, her hand plunged into his body, disappearing into his chest. It was an odd feeling. All of his insides were still, but he could feel her hand moving around something. He realized, all too late, what it was that she was doing. Her hand closed around the warm, golden energy that his own had been coiled around protectively. He longed desperately to pull away from her, but her actions had his feet steeled against the floor. He could not bring them to move, even as he tried.

"This will hurt you, and put the little brat out of commission for a while," she finished, still in Lara's voice, as her fist tightened around the ball of energy.

He felt something within him snap, pain flooding his body before disappearing into nothing. He could still feel the warmth, though. The energy was not gone, but when Chaos' hand slid out of his chest, Jay could feel the energy bury itself deeper in his own, as though it were in agony itself. He dropped to his knees, breath stolen momentarily.

He had a plan. It was one he did not want to use, but it was one that would see Chaos' death. He wanted to laugh at the familiarity of his plan, because this was not the first time he had done it. The last time he had willingly dropped into the Void was for Lara – to protect Lara.

 _I'll cause my own death. The Fates were right,_ he thought.

"Lara… forgive me," he mumbled, pushing himself back up to his feet. "Waglington!"

A brief flash appeared in the sky, and Jay raised his gaze to see Waglington hovering there. "Yes?" The Wizard asked.

"Protect this area from any immortality. No powers; no outside connections; nothing."

A frown crossed the Wizard's face, but he obliged. Jay felt magic wash over the area. His wings felt heavier than usual, and the shadows sunk down into their usual places instead of waiting eagerly for an order from him. The crack on the ground stilled, widening no more than it had already.

Chaos glared. "It won't save you. And it won't reverse any damage done. The gods will still be after you for nearly destroying the Overworld. Not to mention, you've been the cause of the Mianite brat's… unfortunate decommission _twice_."

"We're on even field now – which means if I fall, I die. But so do you!"

He lunged forward. Chaos drew back to punch him and he stopped short, scooting closer to the edge of the crack with a grin. It was a dirty trick, but one he was willing to use. He could sense the Void below him, vaguely. His sense felt duller without his powers. Jay let himself drop over the edge of the rift, latching onto the side with one hand while his other grasped onto Chaos' leg when she was close enough. He pulled and Chaos tumbled over the side. Unfortunately, she caught his leg, stopping her fall and causing his grip to slip.

"Waglington, seal it," he yelled, trying to jostle free of Chaos' hold on his leg. She was trying to climb up him and to safety.

"You can die down there! You have no powers," Waglington pointed out.

Jay sighed. "I know that!"

He met Waglington's eyes when the Wizard looked down. Jay sent the Wizard an imploring look, earning a defeated sigh. "I'll tell her you're sorry," Waglington promised.

Jay felt his fingers slip and watched, even as he plummeted, as the rift closed painstakingly slowly. Without his powers, he understood the Mianitee's displeasure with the Void and Lara's fear of it. As he fell, he felt weaker and weaker. It became a struggle to keep his eyes open, and as they slipped closed, his thoughts became harder and harder to keep track of.

He remembered hearing Chaos screaming in anger.

He remembered her voice falling silent, either from her own weakness or his hearing failing him.

And then…

Nothing but sweet, sweet silence.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Really nothing to say. Another two-part chapter, so two updates. I've a feeling these are going to become common because I don't think I really plotted out the chapters very well.**_


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

Jace reeled back, pressing a hand against his forehead and yelping in pain. He had only left Mianite's temple and Amber because he had noticed Lara approaching before she suddenly collapsed at the stairs. Now, though, Lara was perfectly conscious and holding her head in a similar manner to Jace, himself, who had gotten head-butted when his sister sat up too quickly.

"Ow," he whined.

"Dammit, Jace, don't do that," Lara scolded, grimacing in pain, "don't hover over me like that. Ow, my head…"

Jace sighed. "The hell were you laying there for? And where's the man-whore?"

Lara opened her mouth – Jace knew it was probably to snap at him not to call Jay names, in typical Lara fashion – but a cough cut her off before she could say a word. Jace glanced up. Waglington was standing behind Lara, at the bottom of the quartz stairs. His face was unusually somber, unlike the playfulness that the Wizard normally had written along his features. His stance was lacking the levels of confidence it usually held as well.

"Jace, Lara… I hate to be the bearer of bad news…"

Lara's expression changed to one of realization, and then one of desperation. "No," she mumbled.

"He… made a sacrifice, dear girl," Waglington offered, clearly trying to come off as comforting. Jace could tell that his efforts were for naught. Lara's shoulders tensed and she looked at Waglington as if he had just told her an entire village had been set alight – and Jace remembered that expression hauntingly well.

Before Jace could offer his own consolations to his sister, she got to her feet and darted into the temple. Jace followed behind her, watching her race past Amber while she hollered for Mianite. When the god appeared, Amber let out a hiss and Jace decided that it was definitely time for the Netherian creatures to leave, lest Amber's first real interaction with Mianite be to start a fight. He grabbed Amber's arm and led her away, silently wishing the best for Lara.

* * *

"Lara, my girl?" Mianite asked, glancing around. Nothing seemed out of place. The mortals had yet to return to their beds, but the threat to the Overworld was gone. They would return soon enough.

 _What is amiss?_ He wondered.

"Bring him back," Lara demanded, "bring him back!"

"Bring who back?" He inquired, before reaching out to Ianite.

 _Perhaps this is an issue best settled between women?_ He guessed. He was unsure what could lead Lara to be so concerned over someone. He would assume it would be Jay, but she seemed to have no memory of him the last he knew. _And all the better for that._

"Bring Jay back," Lara growled.

Mianite glanced over at Ianite when she appeared. _Sister, you didn't tell her, did you?_ He thinks. _After all I did to ensure her safety…_

"I see," Ianite said with a small frown. If she could hear Mianite's thoughts, she made no offer of a response. Mianite kept silent, listening as his sister continued, "That's a lot harder, you see, than it was for you."

"I don't care. Just do it," Lara snapped.

Mianite bit his tongue so as not to scold Lara for her words or tone. He did not appreciate her talking so harshly, even if he did not agree with helping the boy at all. Ianite would tell her, though, that it was impossible and Lara would eventually move past this silly phase of hers. Everything would return back to the way it had to be.

"When I meant harder… I meant impossible," Ianite informed, sighing. "Jay's father is dead. We would need his birth essence _and_ body."

Lara was silent. Mianite thought that she had finally conceded, especially when she nodded and turned towards a chest in the temple. "Fine. It's impossible then…"

 _Good. Now, to just—_

"Mianite," Lara called as she opened the chest.

"Y-Yes, darling?" He asked, caught off-guard by her almost blank tone.

 _What's the problem, dear? Are you this upset over him? It will pass. Or I will help it along._

"Did you know that the mortals weren't respawning? And that, hypothetically, it would be easy to get into their chests? Move some of the items around? Because I did," she pointed out.

He raised a brow. "Honey. It's just after-effects. They'll spawn soon."

"That wasn't my point," she stated.

She pulled her hand out of the chest. In her grasp was the sword Dianite had given to Tom. The hand holding it was already being burned and Mianite starred at it, refusing to believe that his Guardian – his precious daughter – was holding a weapon made to kill him. His breath caught in his throat as he was torn between the desire to rip the sword from her hand to spare her what he knew must have been horrible pain from holding a weapon not fashioned for her use, and the desire to knock it away and warn her against threatening him again.

She waved the blade in front of her. "I knew where the sword was," she sing-songed. She shifted her grip on the sword and pointed it directly at Mianite. "And I know that, since the sword you gave to Tucker can kill Dianite, Dianite's sword can kill you."

Mianite backed up a pace. Jay had this much influence over her? A petty, little Void-spawn could make his daughter do _this_?

"Honey…" He warned, before deciding to switch the topic. "T-There might be a way. But it requires a trip to the Void. You would die there. Only void-born creatures can go."

Silently, he cursed the way his tone rose up an octave, betraying his otherwise calm composure. Lara did not seem to care, or to notice. The sword remained pointed at him and her glare remained firmly locked on him. Inwardly, he wondered if Ianite would attempt to stop her if she tried to move forward, but he knew his sister would take a neutral stance. Saving Jay would mean saving himself from a fight with his child, and Ianite would favor that above stopping either he or Lara.

Lara shrugged. "I don't care what the risks are. I'm fast enough that it shouldn't be able to affect me," she growled, "and if I stay? Are you prepared to kill your own daughter? Because I don't care whether or not you die."

 _Lara,_ Mianite thought, mouth agape, _has he poisoned your mind so much already?_

"Wait! If she goes with me, she's safe," Polaris cheered as she rushed over. Her hand fell to her knees. Mianite blinked at her, but Ianite seemed quite satisfied to see her Guardian. Mianite had known Ianite had done _something_ to the Enderdragon, but to see it in person was shocking.

"No, Polaris, you should stay. Jordan will be looking for you soon," Lara replied.

Polaris straightened up, clearly determined. "I'm fucking coming."

Lara turned her glare to the dragoness. "You're a child, Polaris," she snapped, "you don't belong in the affairs of adults. Go play. Go make sure everyone wakes up fine because Jace won't."

Mianite saw hurt cross the human-formed Enderdragon's face as she recoiled visibly from Lara's words. "F-Fine! I don't wanna be near you anyways!" One of Polaris' hands moved up to wipe at her eyes before she turned, darting away.

Ianite sighed. "I can protect you for a short while, but without her, your chances are slim to none."

Lara nodded, lowering the sword back into the chest and closing it. "I understand that. Now… Waglington!"

* * *

Polaris walked toward Jordan's house, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Lara was never mean to her. Why was she being mean now? Polaris had only wanted to help, and Lara would be safe with her! Why didn't Lara trust her? She wanted to help.

She walked into the house and spotted Jordan's bed, noticing that it was empty. She walked over, laying down. Even in human-form, she could smell better. The entire house smelt like Jordan – familiar and warm and loving – and it started to make her mind haze over with the desire to sleep, along with the frustration that Lara's words left her feeling.

 _Perhaps a bit of sleep will help you, Polaris,_ Syrreth suggested.

"La-Lara doesn't want me," Polaris lamented aloud, "I'm a freaky, dragon-human thing."

 _You are not,_ the eons-old Enderdragon growled back at her.

Polaris closed her eyes.

And then made a pained noise when someone landed on top of her.

"This bed is bumpier than I remember," a familiar voice mumbled groggily as the person sat up.

 _Sitting on you is unnecessary,_ Syrreth grumbled as Jordan immediately got to his feet. He looked at Polaris with wide eyes, and Polaris realized that he had yet to see her like she was currently. He didn't recognize her.

"Dear gods, I'm sorry. Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?" Jordan asked, offering her a hand.

Polaris smirked, deciding to play a harmless prank as she got off of the bed. "Name's Polly. Yours?"

"Jordan," he replied.

Never one for patience, Polaris decided that she wouldn't tease Jordan long enough to get a real response. She hugged him. "Thanks for offering me help up. That was very gentlemanly."

Jordan's cheeks went a light-pink color. "Y-Yeah, no problem."

"I told a lie. My real name's Polaris," she informed after detaching herself from him.

Polaris barely stifled a laugh. Jordan's eyes went wider and he nearly fell over his own feet. She could tell that he had put the pieces together. "Wha-What?! Wh-Wh-How…?"

Polaris hummed and gave him time to fully decipher the puzzle in front of him.

"Ianite. A blessing from Ianite," he breathed, seeming to realize it completely now.

She smiled and bounced on her heels, laughing in delight. "Now I can come back inside the house, right? I don't like the tree! It's lonely in there."

He shrugged, still looking a bit beside himself. Polaris knew that he understood her hatred for the tree. Before, she had followed him from the tree every night. She wasn't really big enough to need to be out of the house anyway. According to Jordan, he was getting her accustomed to the tree because she would eventually grow too large in Enderdragon form to sleep in the house.

"Well, I suppose. Can't have you feeling lonely," he replied. "So, how did this happen?"

"Lady Ianite. She's getting stronger," Polaris answered with a smile.

Jordan grinned at her. "Good," he said, "Tom will try and slay her, but you should have seen what she did to him last time!" He laughed, nearly doubling-over, before slowly regaining his composure.

Polaris nodded, and then blinked. Because… if Jordan didn't recognize her, then neither would Tom. Slowly, a grin crossed her face. "I should go and see if Tom's okay, too," she pointed out, giggling and rushing out of the house.

 _This is going to be so fun,_ she cheered inwardly.

Syrreth rumbled out a quiet chuckle. _It is good to see you are feeling better,_ she commented. _I highly prefer you cheerful, than upset._

 _I'm sure Lara will explain herself. She better,_ Polaris replied, growling a bit for show.

She stopped in front of Tom's house and closes her eyes. She focused on her memories of the few times she had been inside of Tom's vault, remembering that his bed was there and, like Jordan, he would most likely wake up there. When she opened her eyes again, she was standing in Tom's vault, watching particles fall to the ground and vanish around her.

"Who the hell?" Tom cried out, scurrying back across the floor on his hands and knees. "How'd you get in my vault?"

Polaris offered a smile that she sincerely hoped didn't convey her mischievousness. "Oh… you left the door open," she lied. "I closed it, though."

She glanced around the room. There were chests stacked atop one another, as high up as they could reach in the area. It was a rather low ceiling, especially in comparison to the rest of his newest base. She knew the chests were filled with goods stolen from the others in secrecy, or designed for the Purges.

Tom drew himself to his feet, brushing off his pants. "Well. Thanks for not being a sneak lil' thief, mate." He offered out his hand to her.

"Speaking of which. When'd you get here? Do you know of the gods? Support Dianite the beast?" He asked as she shook his hand politely.

Polaris hummed, trying to decide how best to play with Tom. As a dragon, she would just chase him around and try to light him on fire. It was fun watching him scramble for the nearest pool of water, all the while hollering that he wasn't ready and that she really couldn't still be annoyed about the tree. Yes, Tom, she could be.

"I know about them," she said, "and I know Dianite's really mean to people. I don't like mean people. Ianite's nicer!"

Tom scowled. "That pussy bitch? She's neutral because she's scared," he teased, rifling through a chest.

Polaris' eyes flashed dangerously and she let out a long, low growl that visibly made Tom go tense.

 _Oh, he recognizes me now,_ she informed Syrreth.

 _I believe he does,_ Syrreth agreed.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Note to self: do better at planning out chapters. All of them recently have needed to be broken up into two parts.**_


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

Lara glanced down at the hole she had gotten Waglington to open. The Wizard was… reluctant, to say the least. She brushed aside her guilt at making Waglington do yet another thing that he was clearly uneasy about, and glanced at Mianite. She felt horrible for threatening him, but she refused to give up on Jay. She hadn't before, and it had cost her life. She wasn't about to change her mind.

"Remind me what I'm looking for again," she said.

"His body, if the very least. We need his soul," he informed.

Lara nodded and Mianite sighed, glancing over at her imploringly. "Listen, Lara. I know that you were thinking rashly when you did what you did. I do not fault you. You are my daughter, regular-born or not. I love you as my own," he told her.

"I know," Lara admitted, turning her gaze back to the rift and, in it, to the Void. "But I'm fast. I'll be fine. Even if Lady Ianite's protection wears off."

She extended her wings a bit, biting back her fear. The Void was a bad place. The Void was an evil place. The Void was, most definitely, no place for an Aetherian creature like herself – but Ianite was offering as much protection as she could.

 _And Jay's there,_ she reminded herself, _I told him not to die so soon. He can't follow instructions at all, can he? He may quite literally be the death of me._

"If I'm not, then…" She resisted the urge to pull her wings against her spine. "I guess it's not such a bad fate, is it? After all, we just found each other again. I'm not going to lose him to some stupid prophecy."

"Prophecy?" Mianite echoed, before shaking his head. "Well, let's get started."

Ianite sat cross-legged in the grass, humming lightly. Lara shifted as she felt something almost wrap around her. She glanced down and traced the thin line of purple energy that had woven itself through her feathers, noticing that it led back to Ianite as a sort of tether.

"Done," Ianite said, eyes remaining closed as if to keep her concentration.

Lara took in a deep breath and jumped into the hole, snapping her wings out to keep in the air.

 _Jay, I'm coming. Hold on._

* * *

Jay was sinking, albeit he was flapping his wings once in a while to stay above the flames at the bottom of the Void. It was painful to move. He thought he knew pain. He knew emotional pain and physical pain, but this was different. This type of physical pain was unbearable. His chest felt like it was being crushed. This was his home realm, and that was the only thing keeping his conscious enough to stay alive, even without his energy to protect him fully. He had been jostled awake by low, dark growls near his ears. He preferred death to this torture, though. Or… did he? He wanted to endure it, if only for Lara's sake, but it hurt so much.

He glanced up, squinting a bit at the strange light he saw. It was somewhere above him and in a direction – left; right; up; down; he had no idea. He'd long since lost track of direction. The problem with the Void was that nothing equated to anything in the Overworld. The distance between things was miles different. Lara's cabin or Mianite's temple could easily be feet away in the Overworld, but it would be miles in the Void.

The light was square-shaped, spreading itself into the shape of a cone as it reached. As quickly as it had appeared, though, it was consumed by the darkness of the Void. It blinked out of existence, pitching him again into nothingness.

"Jay?" Someone called.

He blinked. "Lara…?" He managed to rasp out, eyes slipping closed.

 _Are you going to sing me to sleep, angel?_

"Jay, come on, where are you?"

"Dammit, no peace even here," he mumbled, trying to flap his wings and fly up to inspect the voice. Darkness clung to his feathers, keeping him from rising any higher than he already was. Pain coiled around him at the effort it took. "Argh!"

He stared up at the endless darkness, feeling hopeless. He wished he could be in the Overworld with Lara, sitting with her in the grass. Enjoying her presence. Especially after months of being alone, without her.

"Gods… damn… it…" He muttered, resigning himself to his fate.

"What was…? Oh no…"

"Lara, I regret nothing," he shouted into the Void. It was vain, but he hoped she could hear him in the Overworld. He didn't regret his choice. It saved the Overworld, and it saved her. His death would be noble, right?

Right.

"Then I'm staying here, too," the voice hollered back at him.

"Did someone answer back?" He wondered aloud, before suddenly, he was tackled further back into the Void.

Fearful that it was Chaos trying to drag him further down as revenge, he shoved back at the person. Lara looked at him, frantic, and he starred at her. Immediately, he drew her back in, clutching her tightly against him.

"Lara? What are you doing here?!" He demanded.

"Saving you," she answered, "come on. We're leaving."

He held her by the waist. "My damned wings won't work," he admitted dejectedly, ashamed he couldn't offer her help.

She shook her head at him. "That's alright. Mine do." One of her wings batted lightly against his head. "See? They work wonderfully."

He offered her a small smile, shaking his head affectionately. "Let's get out of this hellhole."

Lara shifted a bit and then turned, pumping her wings. It felt strange to be carried by someone else, but Jay felt relieved. Lara was safe and he was going to get to spend the time he wished for with her. He watched as light began to flood into the Void again from the same hole he had seen earlier. It felt warm.

"Turns out I still didn't die," he told Lara, "it's because I'm one stubborn son of a bitch."

"Keep telling yourself that. May one day, it will come true," she joked, flying up through the hole and landing on her feet.

As she let go of Jay, he tumbled forward. His legs didn't want to hold up his weight. Lara reached down carefully to help him up. She moved one of his arms to drape it along her shoulders and helped him support himself.

"Thank goodness. I thought you had lost you!" Mianite sighed.

"Nope. We're both fine," Lara informed. "I told you I'm fast."

 _Reckless, too,_ Jay thought, _Lara, you could have died. What was protecting you? What if it failed? The Void would've torn you to bits._

Jay watched a polite smile cross Mianite's face, but not quite meet his eyes when he glanced at Jay. "I suppose you were right," Mianite said, turning to Lara and then to Waglington. "Seal the rift."

Waglington obliged him and offered a playful salute, which Mianite huffed at before dismissing himself. After he vanished, Lara thanked Waglington. The Wizard grinned before disappearing as well. Lara turned her glance to Jay and Jay flinched, expecting to get yelled at.

"If you do that to me ever again, I'm leaving you there," Lara warned. "This is the second time you've left me. How could you?"

Jay stood his ground – as best he could with Lara supporting his body weight because his legs were being stubborn. "It was for the better," he replied, "speaking of how could you, how could _you_ let me believe you had forgotten me? That was what pushed me to do so anyway!"

" _Really?_ " Lara breathed, laughing bitterly. "You're telling me, honestly, that you wouldn't have gone for the Void approach at things? Regardless of whether or not you knew? I was trying to protect you! You blamed yourself, and Chaos used that to help lessen your will to fight against her! I just wanted youu to have some reason to believe that I didn't blame you, because the gods know you wouldn't have if I just had said it to you!"

"Goddammit, Lara, if I'm going to do something, I at least want to be by your side as I do! Can you not see that?" He retorted, unhappy that he was being blamed when she was just as guilty. "If I'm going to fucking die in the Void, I want to do it and know you would know the person who sacrificed himself solely to save your ass!"

She shoved his arm off of her shoulder and he stumbled a bit, catching brief glimpse of Ianite as she disappeared.

"Why do you think I died before? Because it was fun? Because I got a laugh out of it?" Lara snapped. "I died because I thought it was better to save _you_. I remember _exactly_ what it feels like to have my body start to burn itself apart. To have every atom of my existence rip itself into pieces, and my blood to literally boil because of energy that a mortal body doesn't belong having. I didn't want you to know that. I didn't want you to know that I remember _everything_ because you would sit and blame yourself."

His breath caught in his throat. _Lara—_

Her gaze softened and she added, "and you weren't at my side when you decided to jump into the Void this time, were you? You told me to go and find Mianite. You never wanted me there."

"I didn't want to hurt you. There's a difference," he said quietly. "I think, maybe, the Void made us both a little cranky."

He offered her a tiny smile, but she didn't reciprocate. Obviously, she was angrier than she was willing to take equal blame. He supposed it would take time for her to cool down, even though he couldn't bring himself to remain angry with her.

"Let's get you back to my old house so you can rest," she suggested.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I can't let you sleep in the rafters. Not after saving my ass."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to sleep in the rafters," she promised, "I'm going to come back to the temple and sleep here. I put a bed in one of the hidden rooms soon after it was made."

She grabbed his arm and started leading him away. "I can walk if you'd like," he offered. "I think I'll be okay now. I can feel my energy rushing back."

 _Not really. I just don't want to burden you. You seem angry enough already,_ he admitted inwardly.

She released his arm and it took all of his strength not to fall forward. "Walk then. You know the way there. Have fun."

He forced a smile, watching her start to walk off. "Yeah, thanks," he offered as he began to limp away.

When she was out of range, he sat down next to a tree and rubbed his sore legs. "Damn, that hurts!"

A chuckle sounded and Jay glanced up. Jace was standing over him, laughing quietly. He frowned.

"Well, you're back," Jace said, "I don't know whether to be glad or angry about that. It could honestly go either way."

"Yeah. Ditto," Jay agreed. He pushed himself back up to his feet, ignoring the protest from his limbs as he forced himself to move in the direction of the cabin. "Anyway, I'm going to bed. I hurt like hell. Everywhere."

Jace followed him to the cabin. When Jay entered it, he collapsed onto the bed. It would have felt wonderful, if not for the sickening pop that Jay heard and felt.

"That's probably not good," he groaned at Jace.

"Nope," Jace agreed. "Probably dislocated one of the bones. Good thing it wasn't an arm or leg. That'd hurt like a bitch."

Jay expected Jace to cheerfully tell Jay that he deserved it after all of the trouble he'd caused. He probably would have admitted, begrudgingly, that Jace was right. Under Chaos' influence, he'd slaughtered the Mianitees and he had attacked Jace.

Instead, Jace says, "Want some help with it? I'm an expert at putting them back into place. Not fun having to do it yourself."

Jay shook off the surprise that came from the genuine offer. "To trust you, or not to trust you," he joked before rolling off of his back and onto his stomach. "Fine. Have at it. Don't have too much fun, though."

He felt Jace's hand search his wing for a moment. It hurt, but Jay felt so tired that his body seemed mostly numb to the pain. It seemed that Waglington's spell was also gone because he could feel his energy stirring a bit, and Lara's warm energy pooling throughout his body as well, lulling him closer and close to sleep. Jace seemed to locate the dislocation because Jay felt his wings relax.

"Now, just to make sure you don't move it—" Jace cut himself off. He tied something around Jay's wings, pinning them together. "—there. Fixed. How's it feeling?"

"Pretty good, actually. That was strange. No putting your foot on my back and yanking my wing?" He teased.

He yawned, eyes already slipped closed thanks to the soothing warmth running through his body. His wings tried to move, but he stopped them. "Have a mind of their own," he muttered to himself.

"Get some rest, kid. Dianite wants to talk with you in the morning," Jace informed before leaving.

"Well… shit," Jay sighed. He turned his head and glanced at the door, narrowing his eyes. "The bastard. Went easy on me 'cause he knows what's going to happen.'


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

Jay awoke to someone knocking on the door to the cabin. He groaned, pulling himself out of the bed. His legs and wing were still in pain, but they were slightly more bearable. At least he could walk, and his wings were no longer trying to get free of the blanket that Jace had tied around them the night before. He still was confident that Jace had other reasons for being so kind, but he did not want to call him out on them.

"Come on, Jay," Jace called from behind the door as he knocked again, "sun's up. Dianite doesn't like to wait."

 _No one does around here,_ Jay thought, grumbling as he opened the door.

"Yeah, what the fuck ever," he muttered. Jace turned and Jay followed behind him, closing the door. "Come on. Let's go."

"Hey, don't take it out of me," Jace growled. Jay could tell they were walking toward the Nether portal outside of Declan's house, even as Jace added, "Dianite gets what Dianite wants. It's only my job to fetch."

Jay rolled his eyes, although he felt some empathy for the Netherian Guardian. He knew what it felt like to be used for that purpose. That was all his creator had ever seen fit to use him as, too. Admittedly, Jay had not thought that Jace enjoyed serving Dianite. Jace had gone against Dianite once already – to save Jay. It was proof that Jace was not as bad as his creator.

"Lapdogs of the gods, eh?"

"Lapdog to the scarier one. Dianite doesn't take 'no' for an answer."

"Yeah. I feel you," Jay said with a nod.

He glanced around after they exited the portal. He had not been in the Nether much, even after recently leaving it. The only times he had spent in the Nether had been when he was stuck in that fortress prison and when he had been teleported there by Jace's thoughts lingering for safety. The Nether was not somewhere he wanted to make habit of being, especially not when Dianite seemed happy enough to seek out an end for his life.

Though, Jay doubted Mianite was happier with him in the Overworld, despite the Overworld belonging to no god.

"So… where is he?" Jay asked.

"His temple, and…" Jace looked over at him, trailing off, before grabbing hold of the blanket. He unraveled it, inspecting the wing Jay had broken the night prior. "How's the wing first?"

"It's still pretty fucked up," Jay admitted. "Think of… bench-pressing a couple thousand pounds. And the bar is on your chest. It squeezes you. Hard to describe."

"At least it's not going to pop out of place again," Jace joked.

Jay looked up when they reached the temple, and found that Jace had led him directly to the main room. Dianite was standing in the center on the room, hovering a few inches above the floor, with an impatient expression on his face. Jay was surprised he did not appear smug at the knowledge that he had 'captured' his newest enemy.

He shrugged off the feeling of discontent and sighed. "Wish me luck, bro?"

"Yeah, good luck. Remember to bow and all that jazz," Jace offered.

Jay could see Jace shifting uncomfortably and wondered how the whole ordeal was making the older Guardian feel. Jace had already learned that he did not understand Dianite completely, and the look on Jace's face when he had seen that female Guardian of Dianite's had been a look of concerned fear. Now, Jace looked a mix of resigned and cautious.

 _You really are afraid of him, huh? Psh. I'm not,_ he thought, saying to Jace, "Nah. I think I'll go for the one-finger salute."

He held up his middle-finger in show to Jace, before walking in front of Dianite. He lowered his finger, pressing the tip of his thumb against his lips and pretending to blow into it, raising his middle-finger slowly as he did.

"I present you this, my lord," he announced as he moved his thumb away from his lips.

Jay could hear Jace mumble out something, but his focus was on Dianite. The god looked wholly unimpressed. He raised a brow at Jay and scowled. "Would you enjoy returning to your cell, Jay? Perhaps I should not waste my time with you."

Jay shrugged. "I dedicated you a whole finger," he pointed out with a stoic look back at the god, before a smirk drew across his face. "Now, what do you want, oh mighty Lord Dianite?"

"You damaged what is mine," Dianite accused. "While Mianite may be swayed by his Guardian's happiness, I will not. Your actions demand punishment."

 _I damaged what is…_ He blinked, realization coming over him. _Oh, right. Jace. Hey, fuck that. Chaos 'damaged' him. I just… sort of… helped…_

"Sword of Mianite?" Jay said casually, holding up the blade. He had beckoned shadows to steal it and hide it after killing Tucker, and was happy enough to have his power to control shadows again so he could teleport it to himself. "I kept this baby. Imma return it, with blood."

Smoke curled up around his fingers, but he could not feel the pain he knew should follow. He wondered if it was due to Lara's energy, or due to his own numbness. In the Void, he could watch the Overworld. With or without his energy, the shadows still transmitted sight to him – and a few had been watching over Lara, observing how Dianite's own blade had responded to her. It was the only reason he knew he could touch the object freely without suffering severe backlash.

"I'm taking a page out of a very special friend's book," he stated.

Dianite chuckled. "Yes, I heard. Mianite was rather upset when I spoke with her earlier about her behavior." With a smirk, he added, "One does not steal from my followers and get away with it as easily as she believed to have."

In an instant, Jay had the blade up against Dianite's throat. He pressed it closer, drawing a thin line of blood from the god. "What the fuck did you do to her, you evil, red bastard?"

Dianite snapped his fingers and just as quickly as Jay had lunged forward at Dianite, Jace sprung onto Jay's back, pulling him away from Dianite. Jay struggled, absently noting that Jace was trying to avoid any contact with the sword in an effort not to get burnt. Despite his adrenaline, the events of the previous day had left their mark on him, leaving him feeling too weak to fight Jace off as easily as he believed he could have been able.

"Relax," Jace hissed in Jay's ear, "he didn't kill her. Mianite would've been down here, dealing with him, if he did."

"What the fuck did you do?" Jay continued to demand, "I'll rip off your—"

Jace clamped his hand over Jay's mouth to effectively silence any understandable words. "Quiet!"

Dianite smirked. "Very good, Jace. Now, Jay, onto your punishment. Hm… what would be appropriate?"

His gaze slipped to Jace, who was still struggling to hold Jay. "Perhaps you have an idea, Jace? He did try to kill you."

Jay growled, managing to jerk Jace's hand off of his mouth. "Or… Or I can shove the hilt of this sword up your ass," he suggested to Dianite.

"Chain his wings," Jace offered, squeezing Jay's arms in a warning. Jay understood why Jace would go for that option. His wings were already useless. Having them chained and heavy would offer nothing in terms of burden. Jace was trying to be kind.

"Without the ability to fly, he won't be able to get around quickly. If he tries to escape to the Void, he'll plummet down into it. He won't be able to return until the chain's disappear," Jace added.

Dianite tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Yes. Good idea… We start immediately!"

He snapped his fingers again. Jace stumbled back as chains formed around Jay's wings, quickly dropping the younger Guardian to the brick floor of the temple. The sword slipped from his hands, falling far from him. Jay could hear Jace swallow and feel his eyes on Jay's back as something even heavier caused his wings to pull down more sharply.

"It would be no fun without weights. He will fall faster," Dianite informed with a smirk, "the fires of the Void? They are real. His soul will burn as well. Neither myself, nor Mianite, dare venture that far."

"Shouldn't he have a chance to survive if he falls into the Void?" Jace asked. "Wouldn't the… fear of possibly not being able to save himself be better than ensuring his death?"

Dianite laughed. "Well-spoken, my boy! But, alas, I want him dead more than anything."

Jay glared up at Dianite. _Well, you tried, Jace,_ he thought.

As the floor began to part with a movement from Dianite's hands, Jay forced himself to sit up, breathing labored from the effort it was taking. "One last thing, Dianite," he growled. He spat onto Dianite's leg.

"Jace, tell Lara I love her," he directed before the floor gave way completely beneath him, dropping him helplessly into the Void.

"I… You… Fuck me," he heard Jace say before the other Guardian offered a small, quiet, whining noise.

"You may go, my boy," Dianite said.

"Well... shit," Jace muttered.

Jay sighed, letting himself twist and flip as he tried to struggle free of the chains and weights. "What is it with me and this place?!"

He felt something latch onto his back and tried to crane his neck to see what it was. Jace was trying in vain to pull him out of his freefall, but it looked like Jace was also having trouble. As he clung to Jay, he was pulled down into the Void. Jace's wings were clearly too weak to carry both of them and the added weights.

"The hell, man? Fly up! Tell Lara," Jay shouted at Jace. "These weights are too strong. Not even my shadows can break them!"

"Lara won't be that helpful right now," Jace told him. "She wouldn't be able to hold your weight!"

 _The fuck did he do to Lara?_ Jay wondered.

Jace glanced down at his wings and then met Jay's eyes again. "I have an idea, but it's going to hurt and you might hate me."

Jay closed his eyes. "If it gets me to Lara," he said, bracing for the pain – or the heat that he could feel beginning to wash over him as they sunk lower into the Void.

He heard Jace let out a wince.

He felt Jace lean down.

And then—

"Jay, I'm so sorry, but we can fix this when we get back to the Overworld."

Pain flooded Jay's system and he shrieked. Jace had sunk sharpened teeth into Jay's shoulders, snapping the main bones of his wings and tearing them from his body. It was an immediately relief that he was now hovering in Jace's arms as opposed to falling any further, but the pain was intolerable. Jace had just ripped his wings off. Jace had just _bit off his wings._

" _Ah! Fuck!_ My gods damned wings! The hell is wrong with you?!" He yelled.

"I told you you'd hate me for it," Jace responded, pulling him up and toward the hole.

"You bitch," Jay snarled, "I'm going to rip your tail off!"

"Touch it and I'll fucking drop you," Jace snapped.

"Fine. Let's go," Jay grumbled as Jace landed in the temple.

Dianite reappeared. Even as his own feet touched the floor, Jay could feel Jace go tense. His wings flattened against his spine, tail coiling tightly around his leg. To say Dianite looked displeased would have been an understatement.

"Jace, what do you think you are doing?" Dianite inquired.

Jace shifted on his feet nervously. "I was… um… punishing him more?"

Jay looked between the two, before saying, "I ripped my wings off to come kill you. I used the darkness to come back up. Jace saw me and was about to beat my ass."

 _You saved me. It fucking hurt and I'll get you back, Jace, I swear – but I'm not letting Dianite bully you like this,_ Jay thought. _Be fucking grateful to me, bitch._

Dianite hummed. "Oh? Perhaps I would believe that, if Jace didn't look so guilty." He chuckled as Jace backed up a pace. "Where do you think you're going, Jace? Stay. We have to talk."

"Dianite. Leave him alone," Jay warned, anger beginning to build more in him.

 _I'm the Heir to the Void. I'm not inferior to you, Dianite, and I won't be a pushover,_ he growled inwardly, _besides, Lara might need me._

"You hold no dominion here, void-born. Jace is my creation and I will do as I please," the god growled.

Jace sent Jay a nervous glance, shrugging sheepishly. "Hey… I'll be alright," he offered, "just get going, Jay."

Jay felt his waning control over himself snap. "No, listen here, Dianite, because I'm only saying it once! You are _my_ inferior! Void-born? Let's see how you like it!"

He stomped forward and shoved Dianite back toward the still-open hole to the Void, surprised by the strength he felt. Another push sent Dianite falling back. Jay reaches forward, catching the god before he could fall into the hole.

"Where. Is. Lara," he demanded. "For your sake, she better be okay."

He noticed Dianite's glance fall to the hole, and then the god met his eyes. "Mianite's little pet is safe and sound in my brother's temple. Killing a Guardian would begin a war that even I do not wish to entertain," he answers, humor gone from his tone.

Jay's lips tilted upward in a smile and he pulled Dianite up, watching as the hole slammed shut. "Good."

He turned and started to walk away. "Jace, you're coming with me."

"I, uh… yeah, okay," Jace answered, darting after him.

Jay felt confident as they walked to the temple. Jace was mostly silent, occasionally making a curious hum. Jay flexed his hand and rolled his shoulders, absently wondering why he felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Hey, Jay?" Jace asked after a few moments.

"Yeah?" Jay replied.

Jace sent him a look. "Your eyes were white."

"What?"

"They were white. It was like… I don't know. The blue was gone, though. They were completely white. They're back to normal now, though."

 _White? Haha… very… very funny, Jace. Don't say that. Just… Don't._

"Did I scare you?" Jay joked, waving his fingers at Jace. "Did I _spook_ you?"

Jace huffed. "No, you just... it was weird. Shut up. Nothing scares me."

"Yeah, yeah. We both know Lara does," he teased.

Jace shuddered. "An angry Lara scares everyone."

"You have a point," Jay agreed.

Jace kept silent for a moment longer before saying, "She's not going to let you into her room. She isn't really… happy with what Dianite did."

"Huh?" Jay asked, raising a brow. He shook his head and continued forward, speeding up a bit, no longer waiting for Jace.

Tucker and Sonja were standing outside of the temple. A smile was on Sonja's face, and Tucker was laughing. Jay blinked at the two. It was not odd to see the Mianitees outside of their gods' temple, but he wondered what had put them in such a giddy mood.

"I feel bad that we snuck up on her like that," Sonja was saying.

Tucker shrugged, laughing a bit. "How were we supposed to know?" At Sonja's sharp look, he quickly corrected, "I guess I do feel bad that she ran off and hid."

"Tucker, my man," Jay shouted, making his way over to them. "You seen Lara lately? I need to talk to her. My… wings…" He whirled around, instinctively craning his neck to try to look for wings that he no longer had.

Tucker laughed. "Lara? Yeah, man, she's inside. Good luck finding her, though. She ran off and hid in one of the rooms."

Sonja look over at Jay. "Probably the one under the fountain. There's a button you can push to get into it."

Jay nodded. "Thanks, guys. Sorry for brutally killing you!"

He walked inside before either one of them could even begin to yell at him. It took him a moment of inspection to find the button, but once he pushed it, the entrance opened. He walked down into the hall, hearing the entrance slam shut behind him. Finding the room at the end of the hall, he opened the door.

In the room, sitting on the bed, was a child with blonde hair and blue eyes, probably no older than seven. She blinked up at him, wings trembling. Her face was bright red, either from embarrassment or anger, and Jay could see that she had been rubbing at her eyes, perhaps to clear them of tears.

"G-Go away, Jay," she shrieked, pulling the blanket over her.

* * *

 _ **A/N: To be completely honest, this is one of my favorite chapters because it's kind of the first official time that Jace and Jay have a positive interaction. Jace is legitimately upset and worried about Jay, and Jay is pretty much protective of Jace because they both serve a god who (at this point in time) doesn't really care about them for more than a weapon. As my co-author said "I was thinking they could bond over this." After what Jace did for Jay (saving him from Dianite's attempt at killing him) and Jay did for Jace (defending him against Dianite), Jace and Jay do respond more positively to one another. They still like teasing and getting in a fight with one another, but they never blatantly hate one another again.**_


	10. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

"How did you know my na—" Jay started, but cut himself off immediately. Hadn't Jace responded the same way when Jay had been hibernating in the Void – in the form of a child? Was that what this was? What had Dianite done to Lara? "Dianite! _You bastard_ ," he seethed.

He sat on the edge of the bed. "Come on out," he coaxed with a long sigh, "your brother bit off my wings."

 _So I've been punished and you don't have to be scary. I mean mad. Yeah… mad,_ he added inwardly, _you're scary when you're mad, Lara. Don't be angry._

"Good," she huffed, "you deserved it." She quietly said something else, but he could not hear it.

"Whatever." He laughed and laid back on the bed, but felt a familiar texture under his back. "What the hell? Lara, is re-growing wings possible?"

"Maybe," she said, "I don't know. I've never heard of it, but I suppose it's possible. Jace's wings have always healed themselves, even though he can't heal without fire."

He nodded. "Just wondering how they grew back so fast. He took to bone with it."

Jay sat up and rolled his shoulders, flapping his wings once experimentally. Lara was silent. Still hiding underneath the blanket, her face was hidden from him. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, and she clutched them tighter. Jay could see her shaking.

"You okay?" He asked, patting her on the back. Her wings were physically trembling underneath his hand. "What's wrong? Besides the obvious, that is."

"Y-You're just going t-to leave again," she told him, voice wavering on the edge of a breakdown. "Y-You're just going to… to go away… and I'll be a-all alone!"

 _It's not just your body, huh? It's your mind, too,_ he realized, _but… these feelings don't come from nothing, do they, Lara?_

He sighed and let himself shift back to the size he had been while allowing his energy to heal in the Void. He was around her size, if a bit taller. His hair was longer and he knew his eyes would be more vibrant. Carefully, he moved the blanket from over her and took her hands in his own.

"I won't leave you," he promised. "Pinky promise?"

Even as a child, Lara did not seem to take his words with much more than a moderately unimpressed glance. This was the Lara he knew, still – the Lara who scowled at nicknames and roll her eyes at pranks, and _how do I know this?_ He wondered.

"Okay," Lara conceded, allowing Jay to intertwine his pinky with hers.

Of course, Jay knew, no moment was sacred enough to be spared followers. Jay quietly cursed himself as he listened to the voices in the doorway. Tom, Tucker, and Sonja were all standing in the room. Obviously, Tucker and Sonja had followed after him – but not before fetching Tom to join them. Jordan must have been elsewhere, lest he would have been with them as well.

"Aww," Sonja giggled.

"Sonja," Jay growled.

"So cute!" Tucker teased, laughing.

Tom snickered. "The cheeks, mate! So pinch-able!"

Jay looked over at Lara. "On three?" He asked.

Lara shook her head. "You can. I don't want Dianite mad at me anymore than he already is."

"I'll kick Dianite's ass again if I have to," Jay assured her before running over, kicking Tom in the shin. Jay stumbled back with the effort it took and his own lack of balance with a body so much smaller. Tom scrambled away before the three left, not without more comments about how 'cute' the sight was.

Jay looked over at Lara, noticing how she was smiling. A smile crossed his own face as she started to laugh, before her laugh faded into a thoughtful humming. He wondered what she was thinking about. He opened his mouth to ask, but her words were answer enough.

"Daddy," she called, "daddy, can you come here?"

Mianite appeared in the room and blinked, gasping. He sat down next to her on the bed, looking her over to injuries. Jay kept silent, displeased that his spot had been stolen by the god.

"L-Lara," Mianite asked.

"I-I'm fine," Lara mumbled, "can you… can you fix this? Dianite did it."

He hummed. "I don't know. Ianite is likely better at this than I."

As Mianite called for Ianite, Jay smiled a bit. He liked Ianite. Out of all of the gods, Ianite was the only one he had any real tolerance toward. She was neutral, unlike her brothers, who both hated Jay with a passion simply for existing – although, Jay reciprocated their feelings, save for the fact that Mianite had created Lara and Dianite had created Jace.

Although, there were days he despised Jace as well.

Ianite appeared next to Mianite on the bed. She glanced over at Lara, covering her mouth perhaps to prevent a laugh. "Oh my… you look very…" She smiled and said, "I believe I see what you have requested my services for, Brother."

Lara sat up a bit taller, wings spreading out behind her. "So you can fix this."

"I can," Ianite confirmed, glancing over at Mianite, "if Mianite is prepared to allow me to change you back to normal, and give up a chance at having a few more days with you like this."

Mianite nodded, and Jay feigned offense, pulling himself up onto the bed as well. "What of my cuteness?" Jay joked, swinging his legs.

Ianite giggled, offering him a smile and a pat on the head. "I believe you can fix yourself, Jay, although you too do look quite cute like this."

Jay smiled back at her. "That's what I was looking for. Hope you don't mind I kicked your brother's ass!" Realizing what he had just said and to whom, he covered his mouth quickly. "Uh… oh…"

Ianite shook her head. "I believe Dianite could afford to be put in his place occasionally," she admitted.

She snapped her fingers and light encompassed the room. When it faded, Lara was back to normal. Mianite had vanished, leaving Jay alone with the two women. He changed back to his regular age while Lara thanked Ianite.

"I was more scared of you washing my mouth with soap," he informed, linking his pinky with Lara's again and offering the other Guardian a quick smile. "Thank you, Lady Ianite, for helping Lara."

Ianite nodded and got up off of the bed. Jay's stomach knotted and immediately he said, "Lady Ianite."

"Yes, Jay?" Ianite asked, voice patient and kind. "Is something the matter?"

"Ugh… I don't want to hide anything…" He took a deep breath and continued, "but I trust you and Lara the most. My father died. I think… I think… his legacy will continue."

Ianite blinked at him and then offered a soft smile, as if she had already guessed and had been waiting for him to make it official. "Oh?"

"Through me," he explained. "As God of the Void. But I promise never to hurt any of you." He paused a moment, glancing over at Lara. "And never leave you."

Ianite's smile widened a bit. "I believe that sounds like a wonderful idea," she commented. "You have my blessing for it. Lara?"

Lara looked between them and laugh a bit. "My blessing's not really important, but… if you don't leave me, then…"

Jay smiled at her. "Your blessing means the world to me, Lara," he assured, before turning to Ianite and forcing self-confidence. "So, Lady Ianite… how do we do this?"

"Guardians and gods are not that different, Jay," Ianite informed, "all it takes to become a god is to create. You are already powerful enough to constitute being a god in that way. You could easily be considered rule of a realm."

"Lady Ianite, while that is flattering, you overplay my abilities," he announced.

He glanced down at his hand, noticing that Lara had not removed her finger from the locked-position it held with his. He wondered if it was symbolic, or a form of subconscious bond. He was not going to break it. He liked the 'bond' it created between them. The silent promise to be together, always.

He smiled a bit. _Did you change your mind about spending eternity with me, Lara? Is this a 'yes' now?_

"Perhaps you underestimate them," Ianite suggested.

Lara nodded. "Jay, I think Lady Ianite is right. You're powerful, as much as I hate to admit it. You wouldn't be a foe I'd want to face."

Jay frowned. "I'm a foe you won't have to face," he informed, sighing, "well, I am on the gods' side. With the exception of Dianite."

Ianite patted his shoulder. "Consider what I have told you, Jay. You will find your rise to power through creation."

She vanished and Jay raised a brow, looking at where she had been standing. He turned back to Lara. "Cryptic much?" He joked, before removing his pinky from around hers and lifting her hands. "I hope you know I meant what I said."

Lara sighed and leaned against his shoulder. "I believe I do," she confirmed, humming thoughtfully as she glanced at their hands.

Jay smiled. It was a rare moment of peace. He resisted the urge to look to the door and wait for something to ruin it. He did not want the silence to be broken, if breaking it meant distracting from a time he could finally spend with her – alone, not arguing or fighting. He rubbed circles against her hand with his thumb.

It was Lara who broke the moment of silence and stillness, by pressing her lips against his and then pulling away. Her glance moved away from him as her cheeks went red. Jay smiled a bit wider. "I think your kisses are a tiny bit addictive," he informed.

She shook her head at him. "We never said 'hello,' you know. When I got back."

He shrugged. "Hello," he greeted, smile turning into a smirk when he noticed how her gaze immediately moved sharply to him. _It's so fun to make you angry sometimes,_ he thought.

She bumped his shoulder with her own, rolling her eyes at him affectionately. "No, stupid. I meant, you never said 'hello.' When I…" She paused. "A few months ago, the last thing you said to me was that the kiss was a 'see you soon.' Well, I never got a 'hello,' or a 'welcome back,' or anything like it. How rude."

He frowned. Thinking about her death was not something he enjoyed, but she was right. He had told her that he would see her again.

"You're right. I apologize. How can I make it up to you?" He asked. "Oh, along with this." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek, which seemed to mildly settle her. "It's good to have you back."

"Keep your promise," she said, "that's how you can make it up to me. Don't make there another 'see you soon.'"

He nodded. "You got it. Though, that first kiss wasn't enough," he admitted slyly, tilting her chin up to press his lips against hers.

She kissed him back and reached around, wrapping her arms gently around his neck. He placed his hands at her waist, feeling nerves bubbling through him. As much as he wanted to try and press closer, he was afraid he would do something to upset her, and—

She pulled her lips away, grabbed his hand, and pulled him to his feet. "Come on. I need to do something."

 _B-But… Lara,_ he thought. _Damn. Only for you, Lara._

"What would that be?" He asked.

"I owe someone an apology for how I acted," she answered, pulling him towards Jordan's house. "I was horrible to Polaris, and I didn't get a moment to apologize to her yet."

He smiled a bit. "Alright. I think I want to try something else out as well."

Lara gave him a curious glance before turning away. She opened Jordan's door. "Polaris," she called.

"Y-come in," Polaris said.

Jay held up his hand. "Give me a second out here, okay?"

As the girls walked into the house, Jay sighed. He had been alone for so long that spending any time alone with Lara made him eager. The idea of having a companion for all of his life was something he longed for. His thoughts trailed to Polaris, who was also fated to be alone. As far as he knew, there was only one Enderdragon.

He rubbed his hands together, feeling his energy pool through him. The sinking sun was offering a great deal of shade, which was only empowering him further. Shadows swirled at his feet, rising slowly until they grew tall and wide – just a bit smaller than Polaris' regular form. He waited until it was a stable form before stopping it. The dragon-form standing in front of him had black scale, with silver on its underbelly and a silver head. Its silver eyes gleamed with power as it looked down at him patiently, awaiting direction.

"Change," he commanded.

The dragon shrunk down into the form of a boy, standing approximately five-foot-eight. His hair was black, standing out against his almost-gray skin tone. His eyes remained the same silver that they had been in dragon form. He blinked at Jay, still silent.

"Come on," he directed, turning and leading the boy over to Jordan's door.

As Jay approached, he could hear Lara and Polaris talking.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for getting so angry. I wasn't thinking straight, and I didn't want to rsik you getting hurt if I… I didn't intend on coming back if I couldn't find Jay, and I didn't want you to go through leaving me there because I thought it would hurt you."

"I understand, and it's okay. Just… don't be that mean again, okay? I just wanted to help."

"I know, and I won't. Promise. I—"

The two fell silent as Jay opened the door. Both looked over at him. Jay put on a happy face, despite feeling guilty over hearing Lara admit, for a second time, that she would have remained in the Void if Jay had been past saving.

"Polaris! Visitor," he called. "I have something to show you."

Polaris gave him a curious look as he glanced around, before Jay gestured to the boy following him. Polaris' eyes went immediately to him instead. "Change," Jay commanded.

As the boy doubled-over, changing into dragon-form, Lara took in a sharp breath. Jay could tell she was anxious about a dragon of the male's size being in Jordan's rather tiny house. Admittedly, Jay was confident it was an uncomfortable fit, but he was more excited to see Polaris' face when she realized she was not alone.

"He doesn't have a name," Jay said off-handedly, "how about… QuickSilver?"

"QuickSilver," Lara echoed. "It's long, but it could work, I suppose."

Polaris let out a squeal of delight and rushed over to the dragon. Jay could hear her teleporting around as she inspected the other dragon. QuickSilver was craning his neck to keep her in his sight, but she was swiftly avoiding him. After a few moments, Polaris appeared on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck, as best she could in human-form.

Jay shrugged, smiling at the scene before him. "He was born under the moon and I'm not creative," he excused.

Polaris hopped off of QuickSilver's back and looked up at him, grinning. Jay turned his attention to the dragon he had created. "Change at will," he directed.

QuickSilver shifted back into human-form. Polaris followed him with her eyes, happy when he struck up a conversation with her. Jay collapsed onto the couch, eyes slipping shut a bit.

"That took a lot out of me," he mumbled drowsily.

Lara laughed quietly and walked over, grabbing his hand. "Come on. Jordan won't appreciate you falling asleep here. Let's get you back to the house."

She turned toward the two human-formed dragons. "QuickSilver, if you want to change form, I'd advise you to do it in the large tree nearby. Jordan's home is growing far too small for one dragon. Two will be too big."

QuickSilver nodded at her, and Jay reluctantly followed Lara out of the house.

"Carry me?" He asked half-jokingly.

Lara sent him a gentle look. "Only if you really can't walk," she replied.

"Fine," he sighed, following her.

It pleased him how much she squirmed when he would snicker and ask, "Are we there yet?"

* * *

 _ **A/N: Introducing QuickSilver and part of the main plot of this and the next story.**_


	11. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

When they reached the cabin, Lara let out a sigh of relief. Jay chuckled. It had been extremely fun to watch her squirm and listen as her patient responses had turned into grumbles and temple-rubbing frustration. It was nice to see, if only because it was a reminder that she was alive and by his side. Months of loneliness was almost worth it.

"Finally. I swear, if you would've asked me that again, I was going to toss you into a river," she threatened half-heartedly.

Jay grinned. "So… are we there yet?" He challenged, before running into the house.

"Cute," Lara called.

Jay held back a laugh, walking to the corner of the room and picking up a lamp. He held it in front of himself defensively, turning to face the door. Lara had yet to enter, but he was sure she would have some form of revenge planned. If she made a grab for him, at least he could defend himself.

"Really cute, Jay," she continued from outside, voice sounding a bit further away.

He waved the lamp. "I don't know what you are thinking out there, but I'm armed!"

He waited. And waited. And waited. When he did not see the door open or hear Lara's footsteps, he lowered the lamp a bit. Maybe she was just going to stay outside? He hoped not. His little joke hadn't really upset her, had it?

He heard a slight creak above him and looked up just as one of the boards fell down next to him. Perched atop the roof was Lara, looking down at him. Despite the innocent look on her face, he was positive she was plotting against him. "Just hanging out up here," she said, "the stars are gorgeous tonight."

"Oh, how wonderful. You think I'm stupid," he replied sarcastically, "listen. I wouldn't do it if I were you. So I'm coming up…" He kicked off of the ground and started toward the hole she had opened up in the ceiling.

"Hm… I don't see why I shouldn't," she mused before dumping a bucket of cold water onto him. Only then did Jay realize he had forgotten about the lake close to her cabin, and he flapped his wings more rapidly to fly after her.

"Why you…! You're going to pay for that one," he shouted.

Lara laughed at him, darting off into the sky. Jay growled playfully and continued after her. It was no competition, really. Lara was faster than him and knew the Overworld too well. Even so, Jay noticed that she was almost holding back her speed to allow him to make lunges toward her, only to pull faster away from him when he got too close. It was as much a game to her as it was to him.

"Oh? What are you going to do to me?"

"Make you wet! Like playing hard to get, eh?"

"I thought you were sleepy."

"You are _so_ going down," he promised, shooting forward and attempting to follow her movements.

"Nope," she laughed.

Jay followed her down into a forest, watching her weave through the trees with ease. Jay, however, was not so coordinated and ducked around a few in order to keep from crashing head-first into them. Lara had probably watched the Overworld grow and memorized the paths of the trees and caverns. Short of pulling tricks, he would not be able to contend her.

He melted into the shadows and followed her, passing through the trees when he could not grab at her. He knew the false sense of security would be enough to stop her. She would be too curious to know where he was, or worried that he had somehow gotten hurt during their game.

 _But how do I know this?_ He wondered briefly, before correcting himself, _I guess… because it's how she is. It's how all of them are. Them?_

Lara landed in one of the tree, looking around from the branch she was standing on. "Cheater."

" _Cheater,"_ another voice called, though it was younger and vaguely familiar. The voice was filled with laughter, despite the accusatory word. _"Cheater!"_

He shook off the confusion brought up by the second voice and let himself solidify from his hiding spot. He tackled her, but twisted with her in his arms so that he landed on his back on the ground. Lara opened her eyes and Jay grinned at her, poking her nose. "Boop."

" _You're it,"_ the voice cheered, and Jay thought he felt the ghostly touch of someone's finger on his nose, but no one else was there, save for himself and Lara.

Lara shook her head at him. "You cheated," she accused.

He smirked. "You're right. Wait, rulebook?" He taunted.

"It's common courtesy," she retorted. "You don't cheat. It's rude. Cheaters never prosper."

"But I did!"

"No."

He flipped them, pinning Lara to the ground and holding her wrists down. "Admit it. I won," he said, although he waited to see if she would protest the position they were in. When she didn't, he offered a small smile.

"Cheaters never win," she insisted.

"Losers never cheat," he argued.

"Of course not. Losers lose humbly to winners who don't cheat," she agreed.

He smirked. Despite not being the best at verbal battles, he could still try and spout out random sayings in retort. "No, losers lose lamely to the cheating winners."

Lara raised a brow at him, though he could still see her amusement. "Oh, so I'm lame now?" She asked.

"No. But you did lose. That's what matters," he replied smugly.

She smirked up at him. "You're just annoyed that I would've won if you didn't cheat."

He rolled his eyes. "There were no set rules!"

"There were implied rules."

"Implied, not set in stone."

"Ah. Then it is 'implied' that I like you. It's not 'set in stone' that I do."

"Playing that card, are we?" He joked, rolling his eyes and shifting so he could hold her wrists securely in one hand. "I'll tickle you."

"You were the one who brought implication into it," she reminded. "I can imply anything. The future is implied. Nothing is set in stone, except for the past."

He smirked. "I have all the cards. It can be implied I won't tickle you, but it's not set in stone."

Lara shifted a bit underneath him and he could tell she was getting uncomfortable. "Let me up for a minute. My wings hurt." She raised her left wing. "It hasn't had the time to heal from when we were in the Nether and I scratched it on that cliff."

He narrowed his eyes playfully, but let go of her and got to his feet. "Fine. Run, and I'll just have to win again."

She got up and stretched her wings, rolling her shoulders. Jay followed her left wing with his eyes. The scratch on it was still bad, and Jay wondered why she hadn't called attention to it before. Instead, she'd healed him and suffered through it all since. He was sure that the Void-travel she'd taken part in had only helped to slow her healing down, if not make it impossible. Unfortunately, he was unsure how to help.

"I mean it, though. Nothing is set in stone. Not even what the Fates says because fate, itself, is always changing," she informed him.

"Maybe so," he replied with a sigh. "How are your wings doing?"

"It's healing," she answered, "slower than I expected, but it is."

"Maybe I can help…" He offered, frowning.

"Unless you've learned how to heal over the last few months, then I doubt it," she told him.

"Well, I did it somewhat unintentionally in the Nether."

"That doesn't count. That's not you learning. That's you making an error and somehow having that error be productive."

"Sometimes mistakes produce the most wonderful things."

He turned to look at her, only for the world to darken around him. His first instinct was to panic slightly, worrying that he was actually waking from a dream and Lara would be gone again. Instead, he noticed two figures shimmering into existence. One of the figures was a little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, familiar in every detail including her white wings and white gown. The other figure was… himself, dressed in Guardian robes. His own wings were neater than they have been in months and his hair was longer. The two children were laughing and playing together, and the girl jumped back, landing in mud. The boy laughed along with her, helping her to her feet. It was so vivid and strange.

As suddenly as the world had changed, it was back to normal. Lara was giving him a concerned look and asking him if he was okay. He shook his head. "No. No… I'm fine," he answered shakily, taking in a deep breath and looking up. The sky was beginning to lighten. "We stayed up… all night."

"Yes," she agreed, looking up as well, "we have."

Jay shrugged. "Eh… I'm stronger at night anyways. Want to go catch a few hours of sleep?"

"I suppose I can give up a bit of daylight," Lara agreed.

Jay wrapped her in his arms and lifted her off of her feet. "Don't fly with a bad wing," he joked before taking off. He knew the cabin was a precarious place to sleep, even with only one person inside. Until it could be seen to and repaired, he did not want Lara sleeping there alone. "Mianite temple?"

She nodded. "Sure… but I could have flown."

"Nuh-uh. Not with Doc J in the hizouse."

Lara sent him a strange look and he laughed, diving down toward the temple. He hovered at the steps, setting her feet on the ground. "You going to be okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine," she replied, laughing a bit. "I'll be fine."

He nodded. "Good. Send me a message on the chat-pad if you need help."

Lara blinked at him and gestured to the temple. "But. I. You're not going to stay?"

"I could… are you sure?"

"Positive. If you want."

He smiled at her. "I think I can stay here. How many rooms does this place have? I thought it was a temple, not a damn apartment," he joked.

"It has three," she told him. "Mine, and two spares. The others are on either side of the temple. There's a button on the wall that exposes a staircase."

He shook his head. _The Mianite temple is so weird. How is this a thing?_ "This place. Anyway. Night, Lara. Where's the button?"

She walked across the temple floor and pressed a button. Immediately, the floor disappeared, exposing a staircase. "Here. Goodnight, Jay."

He waved, walking to the stairs. "Night. Or morning? Wake me in five."

He walked down the stairs, into a quartz room with a single bed in the center. Next to the bed was a chest, and on the other side of the bed was a torch. It was a boring room, in a boring temple, for a boring god.

 _Fitting,_ he thought before collapsing onto the bed.

Before he fell asleep, he was vaguely aware of someone teleporting into the room. The energy felt familiar and comfortable. He guessed it was Ianite.

"Thank you for creating my Guardian a friend," she said, before laughing softly, "maybe… that's not how I meant create. The next generation is upon us."

Jay fell off to sleep before he could even ask what she meant.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Just a heads-up - the next chapter is 5000+ words, which equates to 13 pages in Microsoft Word. I've also finished editing everything for this story. There are only five more chapters after this one.**_


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

Lara sat up in her bed and sighed. As tired as she wanted to feel, the daylight she knew was outside was keeping her awake. It made her feel restless. She left her room, flying out of the temple. "I'll just wake Jay up later," she muttered to herself as she flew over the ocean, "I'll be back before he even wakes up."

She landed in a tree after a few moments of flying and folded her wings against her back. She did not have much time to relax before she heard something and raised her hand, catching an apple as it came flying toward her head. She looked at the apple before glancing at the person who had thrown it. Jace was hovering in front of her, a moderately playful smile on his face.

"Hey," he greeted. "Good to see you back to yourself. Sorry about your idiot."

Lara shook her head. "He's fine. They grew back," she informed, before humming and changing the subject, "Jace, do you remember being a kid?"

"Yeah. Mostly," he answered, landing in the tree across from her.

"Do… you remember a boy?" Lara inquired.

Jace hummed and shook his head. "Nope. I remember you and me, wrestling a lot. Playing chase. Doing kid stuff."

She nodded. She thanked Jace for the apple and flew off, hovering over the ocean.

So Jace did not share her strange feelings about her past, as though something – or someone – was missing from it. Ever since regaining her memories, she had the sinking feeling that some were still absent. Voices and hazy visions had been a regular occurrence, and her dreams had been so vivid that she could not help but feel curious about them. What was she missing? Who was the boy in her dreams, if he was not Jace?

* * *

Jay tossed and turned in his sleep. Those visions and his dreams felt so real, despite him not remembering them well enough to claim they were definitely real. He could feel something about his dreams were not just figments of imagination. As he watched them play out, he felt confident that something was strange about them.

He whirled around when he felt a presence. Ianite was standing behind him, smiling at him. "Lady Ianite… If I might ask, why are you here? What is this?" He asked, curious as to whether or not the goddess ruler of the End would be able to explain it to him and make a say for reality or fiction.

"You may," she answered, before explaining, "this is your childhood. I am here to return it to you. As for what this is… it's the beginning. Strange how the beginning is so tightly bound to the end. I would like for you to share this, but she has awoken already."

 _Childhood?_ He echoed inwardly, glancing back where the two children were playing. _But… my childhood was spent training in the Void, with Cronus. Alone._

He turned back to ask Ianite, but the goddess was gone.

* * *

"Beautiful, isn't it? Unlike my brothers, I don't participate in the tomfoolery. I can enjoy moments like this."

Lara glanced up from the apple in her hands. "Yes, it's gorgeous," she answered.

Ianite sighed quietly. "My job consists of many things. Peace. Tranquility. Memories. Really, I represent the end. Every end has a beginning."

Lara turned completely to face her, clutching the apple Jace had thrown to her a bit tighter. It was impossible. She and Jay had never met before a few months prior, when Jay had tried to attack Mianite and Dianite. She knew Mianite had tried – and failed – to remove her memories of Ianite and Syrreth when the goddess had been stolen from the End by Dianite, but she could not understand what he would gain removing her memories of Jay. He had always been insistent about leaving the Void and its shadows alone, and she had always listened out of fear of the Void.

"Why didn't I remember him? How could I just forget?" She asked.

"How does a tree fall?" Ianite asked. "It can happen naturally… or force may be the cause."

"Are you implying something?"

"Perhaps. Would you like your memory back?"

Lara faltered a bit. Her shoulder drooped slightly as a defeated feeling washed over her. "I… I don't know," she admitted, "I'd rather know what was so wrong with it that I'd have forgotten it. If it's that awful or harmful that I have it, then…"

Ianite offered a small shrug and an encouraging smile. "You can only see for yourself. Don't fault him, if you choose to get them back. He has changed…"

Lara kept silent, weighing her options, before she nodded at Ianite. "I may as well see," she mumbled.

Ianite snapped her fingers and Lara felt something wash over her. Her wings felt heavy enough that she let herself start to lower to a nearby beach, afraid she would fall suddenly asleep and into the sea below if she did not move. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she gave in to the strengthening desire to sleep, laying down on her side and closing her eyes.

"Embrace the sleep. You won't go through this alone," she heard Ianite murmur before her consciousness slipped from her.

When she awoke, she was sitting in a forest. Jay and Ianite were standing not far from her, hovering. Jay had his back to her and did not seem to realize she was awake. He was asking Ianite if she was hurt in a frantic tone, which Ianite denied, assuring him that she was 'sleeping.' Lara resisted the urge to correct her and say that she was awake as she rubbed at her eyes and shook her head to clear the haze from it.

"What are we doing, milady?" Jay asked.

Ianite offered him a smile. "Sharing what is rightfully yours. Shh… she's awake. I must go."

Ianite vanished and Jay turned to Lara with a sigh of relief. Lara gave Jay a glance. "What? I thought you…" She trailed off, not wanting to sound foolish and say that she had thought he was asleep.

He shrugged. "I don't know, either. I do know that we are in a dream, however." He sighed and added, "she wouldn't let me have popcorn. I don't know _what_ we are seeing, but if it's what I have…"

Lara frowned and got to her feet. "Something tells me you won't need popcorn to keep your attention focused."

"Oh… probably not," he agreed.

Lara glanced around as the light seemed to flicker before going out completely, pitching them into darkness. A strange screen materialized in front of them, showing nothing, before it suddenly lit up with something. Lara watched Jay turn curiously toward it before glancing at it closer herself. Playing on the screen was something that she did not recall, but from the way Jay went slightly tense, he clearly did.

* * *

 _Standing in the darkness, almost completely masked by it, was a man. In front of him, clear in view, was a boy. The boy looked nervous. The darkened figure had clearly been telling him something that was off-putting, and it continued, "Go… gather information for their imminent demise."_

 _The boy nodded shakily. "Y-Yes. I will."_

 _He was encompassed by shadows before the he reappeared in the Overworld, where a red-haired boy and a blonde girl were playing together. The red-haired boy got a bit too rough and accidentally caused the girl to fall back into the mud. Despite the girl not seeming harmed by his playful strike, the redhead apologized profusely, starting forward to help her. Instead, the boy who had been in darkness stepped forward, offering out his hand, much to the chagrin of the redhead._

 _The girl glanced up at the boy, who was clearly a stranger to her. "Who… Who are you?" She asked, though she reached hesitantly for his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet, even as her companion let out a threatening growl. She shushed the redhead with a hum when his teeth bared at the stranger._

" _My… My name is Jayden. I prefer Jay, though. F-Father said it's not fit for a prince," he muttered dejectedly, "what is yours?"_

" _Lara," she answered. At the redhead's hiss, Lara rolled her eyes affectionately and added, "that's Jace. He's not so mean most of the time. I guess he just doesn't like strangers."_

 _Jace scowled over at Jay. "Nuh-uh," he snapped, "he smells funny!"_

 _Jay frowned. "I take that offensively. But what do I smell of? Is this hissing a form of his greeting?" He asked._

" _You smell like nothing," Jace informed, tail flitting about wildly behind him, refusing to stay still. "Lara smells like dirt and trees and rivers. I smell like fire. You don't smell like anything."_

 _Lara shook her head. "He doesn't usually hiss at people, but there aren't a lot of people here. The gods say there will be more than just Jace and I someday, but they're not sure when."_

 _Jay shrugged. "I didn't know there were other people. Maybe we can be friends," he offered._

 _Someone appeared next to him from the shadows. "Jay. We must… oh? Who might these people be?"_

 _Jay offered the newcomer a smile, as if they were old friends. "Lara and…" He trailed off, one side of his lips tilting upward into a smirk._

" _Maybe we can be," Lara cheered, seeming to ignore the stranger who had appeared suddenly._

 _Jace, however, did not. He reached over and tugged at Lara's hand, trying to distract her and pull her attention away from the figures he seemed to consider dangerous. "Lara, play with me some more," he demanded, "we were playing!"_

 _Lara looked down at him and frowned. "Jace, I'm already all dirty. Can't we play again tomorrow?"_

 _Jace whined at her, briefly turning his glance to the Jay and the stranger, before turning back to his sister. "No," he whined, drawing out the word._

 _Cronus frowned. "Let me take care of that," he offered, snapping his fingers. Shadows crawled up Lara's robes, covering the stains. When they retreated, they pulled the dirt with them._

" _During the day, your father sleeps. Play now. Be back before sunset," he warned Jay before vanishing._

 _Jay smiled. "Well, I guess we can play now. But Jace doesn't seem to be very fun," he joked._

 _Jace stuck out his tongue at Jay, clutching tighter to Lara's hand. "I don't want you to play with us," he growled, "I don't like you."_

 _Lara sighed. "Jace, that's so rude. Be nice," she scolded. Jace's response was to lean his head against her side._

 _Jay frowned again. "Well, you can't tell me what to do. Neither can you tell her – so if she wants to play, she can," he retorted, "maybe you're just having a bad day. Doesn't mean you have to ruin it for us."_

" _Maybe you're just dangerous and bad," Jace mumbled._

 _Lara reached down, running her fingers through his hair as though that would calm him. "What d'you mean, Jace? Why's he bad or dangerous?"_

 _Jace shook his head, hugging Lara around the waist. He glared in Jay's direction, pointedly hugging his sister tighter. Possessively. "Mine," he snapped at Jay._

" _Fine," Jay snarled, "Lara. Just call for me when_ he _is not here."_

 _Jay vanished and Lara looked down at Jace. Jace was still hugging her tightly, clinging to her. "My Lara, not his," he insisted, "not the bad guy's."_

 _Lara frowned at him. It was highly unusual for Jace to be so possessive of her, but he did not often have competition for her attention. Ianite's Guardian rarely spent time in the Overworld, and when she did, her attention was usually encompassed by Ianite, not by Lara or Jace._

" _He just wanted to play, not hurt us," Lara told him. "If you're going to keep acting like this, then I don't want to play with you, either. Go home." When he started to whine, she glared and said, "I mean it! Go back to the Nether, where you belong!"_

 _He darted off immediately, leaving her alone. She followed him with her eyes. If Jay was bad, then Mianite would have appeared. Mianite did not, so it meant Jace was wrong and Jay just smelt strange to him for a reason completely unrelated to being good or bad. Even if he did smell funny to Jace, Lara had at first, too. Jace would get over it._

 _Jay reappeared in front of her, thinking that it had not been Jace's fault his instincts were reactive. Perhaps he brought chaos where he went. His instructor had taught him to be polite and treat a woman with respect._

 _Lara stepped back a pace. She blinked twice, wondering if this was what had upset Jace. It seemed like a foolish thing to become upset over, but it was… strange. "W-What? Jay, how did you just do that?"_

 _Jay shrugged. "Cronus taught me it. He said it's called dimensional travel. If a tree casts a shadow, I can use it to travel anywhere else with shade. He said all immortal beings have some form of travel," he explained, before his hands went up to his mouth upon the realization that he had just admitted he was immortal._

 _Lara's winds unfolded from her back. "Immortal," she repeated, "that means you're like Jace and I! Are you a Guardian, too? But… who would you be Guardian for? The gods already have Guardians. Mianite has me, and Dianite has Jace, and Ianite has her dragon."_

" _The… The Void…" He managed nervously, unable to bring himself to lie when Cronus had taught him to tell the truth. His wings fluttered nervously behind him._

" _Void…?" Lara echoed, taking another step back as she realized why Jace had been so against Jay._

 _It had nothing to do with his teleportation ability; it had everything to do with Void and the Void. That evil, evil realm and its caretaker that Mianite and Dianite had warned them both about. It could create only evil. It would kill her if it caught her, which was why Mianite stressed her practice to her speed._

 _Jay, who had been warned by his creator and Cronus not to mention his home realm, inwardly berated himself when he noticed Lara's look of pure panic._

 _Lara reached forward, grabbing his hands and laughing to herself. "Are you trying to scare me? You can't possibly be from the Void! You aren't being mean."_

 _Jay recoiled, pulling his hands from her. "Mean…" He echoed._

 _Cronus' hand fell atop his shoulder when the older shadow appeared. "It is true, young Lara," he informed._

" _It can't be," Lara insisted, "the Void is evil. It wants to kill everything. It… It couldn't possibly make something good. Mianite says so!"_

 _Cronus sighed. "No. It is true. I try my best to make sure he does not turn out evil. It would be very dangerous," he countered, adding, "does the sun burn you up if you get too close? I thought since it was light, it can't be harmful."_

" _The sun is full of fire, of course it would hurt," she reasoned. "And I could go closer to it than you could, shadow. I_ am _light!"_

" _Does the nighttime scare you? Just like fireflies, there must be some kind of light," he retorted. "Plus, he can go closer to the Void. It would destroy your sanity – but only if you went too deep."_

 _Lara glared at him. "You don't scare me. The… The Void doesn't scare me. I'll just burn it up if it ever comes to the Overworld. A shadow's not so big and scary if it has nowhere to hide."_

 _Jay shrunk back, listening to Lara's threats. He looked up at the shadow sadly. He did not want to be insulted any longer, especially not by the person he was trying to make friends with. "I-I should have just lied. Cronus. Can we go?"_

 _Despite feeling guilty for her behavior, Lara kept silent and kept her wings pinned to her back. Mianite had taught her the importance of looking and sounding brave, even when she was terrified. The only thing keeping her wings from shaking and betraying her forced composure was the fact that they were pressed so tightly against her back that she could feel the bone pressing against her spine._

 _Cronus sighed. "Yes, we may."_

 _The shadows wrapped around the two and they vanished. Lara stood in place, too frightened to move, until she noticed that Jace had come over to her, congratulating her for her good work._

" _Good job, Sis! I thought I'd have to tell him off, but you did better." He clawed at the spot where Jay had been standing, as if searching for a portal, before turning back to Lara. "Just checking."_

 _She blinked and looked over at him. "H-Huh, w-what? Oh… y-yeah…" Lara turned to Jace, shooing him away, before she climbed up a tree and remained hidden in the leaves._

 _Admittedly, she did not want to tell Mianite of Void's newest creation. If she did, Mianite would look for Jay, wouldn't he? She decided to keep silent about him. If she was asked, that would be different. She would tell Mianite, then. But, so long as she could, she would keep Jay her secret._

 _In the Void, Jay was standing before the figure in the darkness. Again, the figure's features were unreadable and invisible under the mask of darkness. He was attempting to back away, but failing miserably as the darkness loomed over him._

" _For a girl? You blew your cover? Insolent child! Never. Ever. Do that again. Got it?"_

 _Jay whimpered out a confirmation, disappearing._

 _Mianite found Lara in the tree hours later. He looked up at his little creation, frowning. It was rare for Lara to hide from him. "Lara. Lara, my dear, did something occur? You are never this afraid when I visit you."_

 _Lara whimpered down at him. "No. Nothing happened," she lied._

 _Mianite hummed, raising a brow. "Darling, it is alright to tell me."_

 _She poked her head out from her hiding place, ignoring the leaves that had taken home in her hair from her hurried climb up into the tree. "You won't be angry?" She asked._

" _Of course not," he answered._

 _She gave him a nervous glance. "The Void… did something. Two of its creatures were here earlier…"_

" _N-No," Mianite said shakily, taking a step back. "You must have been seeing things. The Void has been dormant for many years. Lara, it's alright. If they were Void creatures, be thankful they didn't harm you. The Void is a dark, evil, desolate place."_

" _I-I know," she told him, "but… one of them seemed so nice…"_

 _He frowned. "Lara… one of them? What did they look like? I don't believe you are telling me the whole truth."_

" _There was a boy with dark hair and blue eyes. He was near my age. I… I didn't pay attention to the other creature," she answered._

" _Lara…" He hummed warningly up at her. "you said they were_ Void _creatures…"_

" _T-They were. The other one talked about the Void, and… and the boy said his father was Void. He said he was immortal, like Jace and I."_

 _Mianite shook his head. "No, perhaps you misunderstood. He can't have a Guardian. He is dormant," he repeated, though it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than he was her. "If you see this boy again, capture him!"_

 _He vanished, perhaps to warn Ianite and Dianite. Lara watched him leave, opening and closing her mouth a few times. "I don't…" She started, despite knowing it was useless. An order was an order, and they were to be followed, despite her objections or questions. "Okay."_

 _Jay reappeared in enough time to hear Lara agree to Mianite's demands. He trembled a bit. His_ father _was scary. He knew if he revealed himself to Lara that he would be in trouble – and so would Lara. He could not allow that._

 _Lara ducked back into the tree again, curling her wings around herself as she questioned her own ability to capture Jay. All she had to her use was a healing ability. A healing ability was useless for that. All it was good for was healing Jace when he managed to get injured trying to navigate the Overworld alone. There was also Jay's ability to teleport at will to take into consideration, which Lara could do nothing about._

" _Oh, girl," a voice purred next to her. Lara turned, noticing that Dianite was sitting in the tree as well. She wondered when the Nether god had appeared, but she doubted he had chosen to be loud. "You have many more powers than you might realize. Perhaps your nature as a Mianite follower is blinding you. The light can indeed be very painful, especially to a creature of shadow."_

 _She frowned. It was unlike Dianite to sound so comforting, but she supposed he did not like the Void or its inhabitants, either. Still, she had to wonder what else Dianite hoped to gain. If she had other powers, why would Mianite not have told her, especially if they could be useful to his task?_

 _She lowered her wings slowly. "I-Its is? Would that work? If… If I did something with light, would it make him stay in one place?" She asked. She wanted Mianite to be happy with her._

 _Dianite smiled, which was a very intimidating sight with his sharpened teeth. "Yes… Very intense light can burn, kill, or immobilize."_

 _He rubbed his hands together, smirking. Even void-born children could not hide from him. He could sense Jay trying to keep masked, but without practice, his energy was still palpable. As much as he would have enjoyed targeting the young void-born Guardian himself, seeing Mianite's precious little daughter go after him and ruin her own pacifism would be more entertaining._

" _There he is," he murmured to Lara, forcing the veil hiding Jay to lower, leaving the void-born out in the open._

 _Lara peeked out of the tree, spotting Jay immediately. He looked afraid. She hesitated, briefly feeling even guiltier, before she dove at him, wings shoving him forward through the air. Jay did not even try to move out of her way. She tackled him, knocking them both to the ground. Her hands found his shoulders, and from them a golden light unlike her healing ability spread, burning him and causing him to flinch slightly._

" _I-I won't let you get away," she said._

" _W-What if I don't want to get away?" He unintentionally asked, voicing his thoughts, looking in her eyes._

 _The glow faded and Lara narrowed her eyes at him, confused. "Why wouldn't you?"_

" _Y-You're nice to me. And pretty," he admitted. Young as he was, he took Cronus' advice to speak honestly quite literally and would voice any opinion – including asking his creator if he was grumpy because he could not fight the light switch in the Void._

 _A blush painted Lara's cheeks as the light completely faded from around her hands. "O-Oh…"_

" _A-And you smell nice, too. Like flowers," he said._

 _In the tree, Dianite growled. Why was Lara not killing him yet? He could not hear there exchange, but he was hoping she was explaining in full detail how she was going to end the little void-born's life. Jace would. Or perhaps Jace would have just tore out the child's throat already and made it simple. It was simply more proof to him that Mianite had failed when creating his Guardian._

 _Lara's face went a bit redder and she got quickly off of Jay, wings twitching nervously behind her. "I… I… you should go, Jay," she warned, "you're too nice, and… and Mianite must be… he's wrong."_

" _I don't want to go… The man over there will be mad. I'll wait with you," he said bravely, eyeing Dianite warily before looking down at Lara again. He knew he would suffer repercussions, but he did not mind. She was going to be in trouble for letting him go, too._

" _I'll tell him that you got away from me," she replied, sending him a desperate look. "Please… please go. He won't hurt me."_

 _Jay smiled. "Sorry… but I can't. It's not how I was taught."_

 _He wrapped an arm around her waist firmly as she continued to send him a pleading look. "I don't want Mianite to find you. Please. Please, Jay, we won't be able to play next time I see you if Mianite finds you."_

" _Sorry… but it's dark… he can't see me," he said, putting on a brave face, despite looking down. "Don't worry. Call for Mianite."_

 _Lara opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to think of something to use as protest, but she sighed. "Daddy," she called._

 _Mianite appeared, though his back was to the two Guardians. Instead, his gaze fell coldly upon Dianite, hardening. He wondered what tricks his brother was up to so near his daughter. "What is it, honey?" He asked, turning to face Lara._

 _Lara swallowed. "Um… the boy… he…"_

 _Mianite nodded. He snapped his fingers and chains, glowing with a faint light, coiled around the boy. As soon as they did, the ground shook beneath the group. A circular portal opened and darkness shot out of it, rising into the sky as if attempting to eclipse the sun and succeeding._

" _Who dare shackle my Guardian?" The darkness demanded._

" _No," Lara whispered, "no…!"_

 _She reached over, attempting to break the chains around Jay and failing. She was too weak. She looked up at the sky, wings extending instinctively as if urging her to fly away. Immediately after, they slammed flat against her back, too afraid to even twitch._

 _Mianite stepped back. "Impossible! You should be resting!"_

" _Foolish god. I am hibernating. I am unable to kill you as of now, but the boy will be. Erase the memories! I will not have my creation with the likes of yours," the darkness hollered._

 _Lara whimpered a bit, looking over at Mianite. "Don't," she begged, "please… please, don't. I-I promise I'll be good. I won't talk t-to him anymore. I'll behave…"_

 _Mianite turned to her. "I apologize, daughter. But it must be done."_

 _As Jay and the darkness vanished back into the Void, the portal slammed closed and the chains that had once held Jay dropped to the ground. Mianite stepped over to Lara. She was looking up at him, eyes watering, too afraid still to move._

 _He sighed. "I am sorry," he said to her, placing his palm on her head._

 _Her eyes glazed over momentarily before she blinked, clearing them, and tipped her head curiously up at him. It was as though the day's events had not happened. Lara no longer looked afraid, but confused as to why he was looking down at her and there were chains next to her. "What's wrong?" She asked. "Did I do something…?"_

 _He shook his head. "You can never do anything wrong in my eyes, darling." He offered her a smile and a pat on the back, adding in hopes to cheer her up, "go see Jace."_

 _Lara nodded, but covered her mouth to hide a yawn. The mix of using power and having her memories altered had an exhausting effect, leaving her feeling tired. "Is it okay if I go to sleep instead? I'm really tired," she admitted, rubbing at her eyes as if to keep away._

 _Mianite nodded, picking her up and teleporting with her to a quartz building. He carried her into a room, laying her on the bed. He sat next to her. "Don't worry, honey, you'll feel better in the morning."_

 _After a short while, he felt satisfied that she had fallen asleep and rose to leave. Ianite, however, was waiting for him and stopped him with a disappointed click of her tongue. "Brother, was that not cruel of you? Are you so afraid of the Void that you would go to such lengths to appease it? Two innocent children, in the midst of all of this – and they are the ones who are being punished for the mistakes of adults."_

 _He sighed. "Perhaps it was… but it needed to be done, unfortunately," he countered, trying to avoid a lecture._

 _She gave him a curious glance. "Tell me, Mianite, what would you do if their fates were to bring them together again?"_

" _Do everything to protect her, of course," he growled, "she will_ not _be with the void-spawn."_

 _Ianite hummed. "Some things are not within even our power," she informed._

" _Sister, why do you protect the boy? He is the enemy!"_

" _A child is not destined to walk in the footsteps of their maker, Brother. Perhaps the boy may surprise you one day."_

" _The boy cannot. He will never gain my blessing for the best of his life," he answered angrily._

 _She offered a teasing smile. "If you say so."_

 _Mianite growled at her. "She is my daughter. She will not be fooled by the boy," he assured before vanishing. Ianite sighed and vanished after him._

 _In the Void, Jay was beyond afraid. His father did not so much press a hand to his forehead as he did a punch. "Boy, you have brought me weakness," the darkness snarled. "Mingling with that god's creation. Giving away your covered. Allowing yourself to be captured. Worthless!"_

" _You don't know anything! I am not worthless! You're just mad yo—" Jay was cut off by a harsh smack._

" _Don't speak to me that way, boy! Consider your memories gone," he growled, reaching toward Jay._

 _Jay's eyes widened. "N-No! Don't!"_

 _His protests were cut short when a hand pressed against his forehead none-too-gently, and his mind went blank. He stood still for a moment as he tried to recall what he had been doing during the day. His creator dismissed him, ordering him to continue training, and Jay left to find Cronus. He blinked, vaguely remembering seeing a now unfamiliar set of figures, but they were too foggy to make out clearly._

" _C-Cronus," he called, wings flapping as fast as they could._

 _When he landed, even Cronus was different. Cronus was harsher than he recalled. Jay sighed, resigning himself to the treatment, but not refusing to be angry. His creator had done something to him and to Cronus, and only his creator was to blame._

* * *

 ** _A/N: Long chapter is long! I didn't want to cut any of the memories sequence into another chapter because I didn't feel that a cut in the middle would make sense. That said, if I would have cut it prior to the memories actually starting, it would've only saved three out of thirteen pages, so it seemed pointless. And, yes - a tie-in to the original Mianite series. The Cronus who Jay's mentioned twice now is actually the Cronus that the Mianitees met. Why Lara never connected those two things, I don't know. It's never even mentioned that she does, but I would presume she does - especially after this._**


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

Back in reality, Lara looked over at Jay. He was staring blankly at the screen, not even seeming to register than she was next to him, save for how tightly he was holding her hand. She had not felt him grab her hand during the show of memories, but she understood why he had. If those were really memories and not fabrications, then Jay's childhood had been full of horrible things. She and Jace's childhoods were tame in comparison – and already, she felt she had grown up safer in Mianite's hands than Jace had in Dianite's.

Mianite had lied to her, though. Mianite had stolen her memories of Jay and then, when they met again, set her up to be against him. Just as he had again when he had brought her back to life this time. He had intended for her to be his enemy. It made her wonder how sincere Mianite's words were when he spoke kindly of Jay.

"Lady Ianite, I believe we've seen enough," she called, lowering her voice to a mutter after and adding to herself, "I wish I had never agreed to know…"

Jay nodded numbly. "Y-Yeah, enough," he agreed, adding as a weak, half-hearted joke, "The popcorn would have made it better…"

"I don't think I would have had the appetite," Lara replied as the world shifted around them, returning them to the waking world in Mianite's temple. Someone – she presumed Ianite – had placed a bed in the center of the main floor and apparently brought both of them to it to rest while they watched the memories.

Jay managed a small smile, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. Ianite appeared and offered a smile at the sight in front of her. "It's a small world, huh?" Jay asked.

Lara nodded at him, turning her attention up to Ianite. "What was the point in showing us that?" She asked. "Those memories are horrible. There's nothing happy to them."

"I wanted to return what is yours, to show you that, perhaps, you two overcame many challenges and you should cherish that," Ianite answered.

Lara opened her mouth to respond, but closed it, shaking her head. She did not know how to reply to that. All her life, she had believed she could trust her father to steer her in the right direction. She had accepted what he had tried to do with Ianite and Syrreth's memories because he had done it out of kindness. Erasing Jay from her mind and then speaking so poorly of him was not an action done out of kindness. It was out of fear and hatred.

"What is it, darling?" Ianite asked with a small frown, clearly concerned.

"He lied to me," Lara said. "My own father. He's not happy for Jay and I, is he? He's not happy that Jay's alive. That's why he was so insistent that I shouldn't have gone to save him. Why he didn't even try. He wasn't trying to protect me from the Void. He was trying to protect me from…"

She glanced over at Jay, who looked like he was busy thinking, perhaps replaying the memories over in his head. She understood how he felt. Her thoughts kept replaying Mianite's refusal to allow her to help save Jay from the Void when Jay had tried to kill Chaos. She wondered if her anger toward Jay then had even been her own, or if it was some foreign mimic taught to her by Mianite.

"Yes, he was trying to protect you from Jay. He has changed, but gods do not change quickly, Lara," Ianite informed, "he isn't happy that Jay is alive, and neither is Dianite. That is not good, as gods can get very impulsive at times."

"And how do we defend against that?" Lara asked. "Jay couldn't manage them before, and I have no way of keeping either of them away effectively."

"Your father can be very understanding," she replied. "Show him how much you two care for each other. If he approves, Dianite cannot bring you harm without angering him."

Lara nodded and Ianite vanished. She looked over at Jay. He was still zoned-out. His eyes seemed to be looking at something far-off. She frowned, concerned. "Are you still in there?" She joked half-heartedly at him, "or have we lost you?"

"Still here… we… uh… we leaving?" Jay muttered slowly. He blinked and looked around, seeming to realize that they were no longer in a memory or the world of dreams. "Oh…"

Lara reached up, placing a hand on his cheek. "Welcome back to reality," she greeted softly.

He blinked a few more times. "It's good to be back," he replied.

"Still tired?" She asked. "I don't know about you, but I don't think I want to sleep for another century."

Jay shrugged. "How about… we just sit together? Peacefully for a while. Maybe throw in a kiss or two?" He offered.

She smiled a bit at him. "I suppose that's doable."

* * *

Jay smiled. He leaned over and gave her a chaste kiss. As innocent as he wanted to be, he felt frustrated. The last time he had spent alone with her, she had disrupted it to go apologize to Polaris. Jay adored Polaris and her company, but Lara was the only company that would sate him recently. He loved the taste of her kisses, but he did want more – but he did not want to force a rush on Lara.

She kissed him back, draping her arms over his shoulders. He daringly ran his tongue along her lower limp, inwardly pleading for her to reciprocate his feelings. When she did, it took all he could to not to push forward without permission. He could feel how relaxed her muscles were and knew it was a sign of agreement – of contentment.

Lara pulled away after a moment. Jay wanted to whine because he wanted her affection more than anything, but oxygen seemed to be something she desired. She smiled at him, though, and he could see her eyes were lit up with something teasing and loving.

"Now… why wasn't that your 'welcome back' to me?" She asked, laughing breathlessly.

"I'm a little slow, you know that," he joked, "now, where can I get seconds?"

"Let me get air back into my lungs," she chided playfully.

He smirked. "Ready whenever you are, for oxygen does not quite compare to your amazing kisses."

"Yes, well, if you go without my kisses, you won't pass out; however, without air, you will," she points out, rolling her eyes affectionately.

Jay decided, when she kissed him before he could even begin to reply, that he should consider talking to her more. If kisses were her way of asking him to be quiet, then he could abuse her ears long enough to earn this treatment. It was a nice way to be told to be quiet. It was one he could get used to, especially with how calm she still was and how consensual it was between them.

He settled his hands at her waist, slowly rubbing. He could feel her wings lift slightly, the feather bristling before relaxing again, as if the touch was sensual to her. Her arms came up from his shoulders to wrap loosely around his neck. Lara started to lean back, leading him closer to the bed and deepening the kiss.

A loud crash sounded, breaking the silence and effectively ending the peaceful moment. Lara pulled away from Jay, glancing over his shoulder at something. Her wings nervously twitched behind her. Jay turned to look over at whatever she had found, and noticed that Jace was picking himself up off of the ground, rubbing the back of his head.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"Don't blame me! It wasn't my fault! It… I tried to stop him, but you know how Dianite is – he's not very happy when you say 'no' to him," Jace immediately defended.

Jay frowned. "You on the run, man? Because you are interrupting something!" He pinched the bridge of his nose and added, "I am going to kick your ass unless the universe is falling apart."

"Dianite burnt down Lara's old place," Jace informed, "thought you'd like to know, and—"

Jace yelped, ducking under the fireball that went whizzing past his head. He darted away from the following fireballs. Jay got to his feet, cracking his knuckles, and Lara drew to her feet as well. Dianite was following after Jace, throwing the offending fireballs.

Jay growled. "Not the universe, Jace… but I can take it out on Dianite. He never did apologize to Lara." He smirked. "Come on, bitch!"

Lara grabbed his arm and tugged gently, as if trying to pull him away. "Jay, leave Dianite alone. I'm fine, and Jace will live to see another day because, as troublesome as he is, he has unfortunate good lucky."

"Sorry, but he is going to apologize. After some words, that is. Come get your sorry when I call," he said, spreading his wings.

Dianite chuckled, pausing in his chase to turn his attention to Jay. "Perhaps another day. For now, I would advise you listen to Mianite's little pet," he warned.

His gaze turned to Lara. "Did you learn your lesson?" He asked.

Lara huffed, raising a brow at Dianite. "Not to act like a child? Yes. But I don't regret what I did. If it had to be done again, I would do it in a heartbeat. Even if it didn't end well for me."

When Dianite growled and summoned a fireball, Jay pumped his wings and shot over at Dianite. He tackled the god to the ground, vaguely aware that as he did, Jace landed next to Lara. Jay was not about to let Dianite bring any harm to Lara – or what she cared about. Jace was cared for by Lara, and occasionally, begrudgingly, by Jay.

"So he's a—" Jace started.

"Yep, he's a moron," Lara interrupted with a confirming hum and nod. "A hot-headed idiot."

"But, and I hate to say it, he's your hot-headed idiot," Jace pointed out.

Jay looked up briefly from his fight with Dianite to see Lara and Jace bump shoulders, and that an affectionate smile was on Lara's face. He hoped she was happy with him, and not just Jace. He was sure she was.

Jace looked down and growled, landing a punch against Dianite before drawing to his feet. He knew the god was strongest during the day, and so the only benefit Jay had was the falling sun. Dianite was already showing off his power by shifting his nails into sharpened talons like Jace would have had if he let his grow. His hands were lit by fire, and Jay leaned away from the fire as not to get burnt.

All he needed to do was wait a bit longer, and Jay would be stronger than the Netherian god.

Dianite attempted to overpower him, lunging toward him. Jay ducked to the side, nearly avoiding the god. He jabbed at Dianite as he flew past. Dianite's reflexes were quick, but Jay's were faster as shadow began to close in around them, the sinking sun casting eerie shade across the Overworld. Dianite dug his heels in the ground as he went back a bit from the hit. He glanced up at the sky and chuckled to himself.

Jay smirked, though he felt caught by surprise. "What ya' laughin' for? Finally gone insane, old man?" He mocked.

Dianite shook his head. "Even I know when a fight isn't worth my energy, void-born," he informed, "or when there are more pressing matters to attend to."

"Or when you are scared?" Jay teased, taunting him, "return to your wimpy ass Nether."

Dianite looked over at Jay and growled. "As much as I would enjoy sending you to the fires of the Void as I had intended, there is a storm coming."

"A storm? Dianite, come on. Don't lie to me. Bro, I would destroy your fucking nether. Now shoo." He waved his hand dismissively before turning and walking away.

"Jay, focus on the atmosphere for a moment," Dianite called over at him before he could get far away. "The air is too calm and filled with something too static."

"Man, I don't do weather. I don't know what the hell that means. But do you know what this mean?" He raised a fist, slowly lifting his middle finger. "O-Oh-Oh, there it is!"

Dianite sent him a glare before turning to Jace and Lara. "Jace! Let's go," he snapped.

Jay looked up and saw Jace offer Lara a sheepish shrug before he darted off obediently after Dianite.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Not really much to say.**_


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Lara, he bitched out before I could make him apologize, sorry," Jay said sheepishly as he got over to her. He sat down on the bed. Lara would know about the weather, right? She had lived in the Overworld all of her life, so if anyone knew about a storm, Lara would. Besides, she was sensitive to this kind of thing. _Wait… she is? How do I know that? I… I just do. I do._

"Anyway, is some strange weather stuff going on?" He asked, watching her as she glanced up at the sky.

Lara closed her eyes as if trying to keep her focus. "It does feel strange. Like… it should be peaceful, but it's not," she told him, "everything is so still and quiet, like being in the eye of a hurricane."

He frowned. "Storm… hurricane…" He shrugged and smirked. "Well, shit, Lara. I think it's a hurricane."

When she opened her eyes, she glanced over at him, a frown on her face. "Maybe… hopefully."

He nodded. "Too bad it's not good for surfing. Anywhoo. Maybe, say, we should find a way to pass the storm?"

"Or maybe," she said, "we relax. After everything that's happened today, if I've learned anything, it's to let the past be the past."

He nodded again. "Still, kisses, though?" He asked innocently, allowing a tiny smile to cross his face. "Jace kinda interrupted us so very rudely."

She walked over to the bed and leaned in closer to him. Just before her lips pressed against his, she gave him a look. "No."

"Meanie," he huffed, groaning and crossing his arms.

It was as though his mind had suddenly switched track. He thought about QuickSilver and Polaris, wondering how they were managing. Polaris had seemed overjoyed to have a companion. QuickSilver had seemed calm enough, but that slightly unnerved him and worried him. Would QuickSilver be able to keep up with the hyperactive dragoness?

"Wait! Let's check on Polly and Silv," he suggested excitedly.

"Silv," Lara echoed, shaking her head. "What is with you and renaming things?"

"Dunno, Lar. Let's go," he urged as he got a running start before quickly flying off, eager to escape the wrath he knew was coming.

"La—" She growled and shot after him. "I will end you!"

He laughed as the wind rushed through his hair. "Okay, okay… 'Ara," he joked, pushing himself faster as he saw Jordan's house come into view.

"It's a good thing your wings have healed. Otherwise, this would hurt more!"

He felt feet ram into his back, between his wings, and suddenly he was falling down toward the water below. He let himself disappear below the waves, though he sunk into the shadows to keep from suffering from drowning. He looked up and watched as Lara hovered above the ocean. She looked nervously around, calling his name.

He teleported behind her, poking her side. "Hey," he greeted, ignoring how he was soaking. "Forgot I could teleport?"

She turned toward him and smiled. Jay locked pinkies with her, smiling. "Not going to leave," he assured before leading her to Jordan's home.

"I didn't think you would," Lara informed.

"Good," he said.

He landed with Lara outside of the house and knocked on the door. As soon as his knuckles hit the door, it opened with a small creek. Jay hummed a bit, concern beginning to come over him as the creaking continued even with the door no longer moving. It was not like Jordan to leave his door unlocked. Despite the usual safety of the Overworld, a lot had recently happened to put everyone on-edge.

"Someone is here," he told Lara, leading her toward the sound.

He heard quiet, muffled sounds as he approached the room that the sound was emanating from. Carelessly and recklessly, he swung the door open, stumbling back with Lara still keeping behind him. "Oh… come on," he shouted.

QuickSilver was sitting on one of the beds with his shirt off. His shirt was lying on the floor, where it had likely been tossed unceremoniously. Straddling the young man was Polaris, who was thankfully fully-clothed. Jay was quite certain that she probably wouldn't remain so for long, if only because she and QuickSilver were so interested in exploring one another's mouths that they paid Jay and Lara no mind.

Lara closed the door quietly, her face red from embarrassment. She looked over at Jay and laughed softly. "We're not the only ones who got noticed today, it seems."

Jay nodded numbly, though he felt frustrated. "The bastard. That would've been us! Where is Jace?"

Lara shushed him and pointed down the hall. "Jordan's probably trying to sleep. Don't be rude," she scolded, "and leave Jace alone. He has enough to worry about with Dianite angry over the storm. You don't need to add to his stress."

"So… you don't deny it could have been us," he teased, wiggling his eyebrows slightly.

"It won't be now," Lara said, "especially after your pitiful attempts at giving me a 'pet name.'"

"Yeah, right. My little ray of sunshine," he retorted, "not like you would give me a better one."

"I'm sure I could eventually think of one given time, Jayden," she teased.

"Hey… don't use my full name," he whined, leading her out of the house.

"Then don't give me a pet name. My name is perfectly fine, thank you kindly," she replied.

He nodded at her. "I agree. The only gal for me is Lara," he confirmed, poking her lightly in the side.

She rolled her eyes affectionately. "You're ridiculous sometimes," she said.

"Maybe so, yet you are still here," he countered in a sing-song voice as they walked.

"Yes," she answered. Her voice slipped into something akin to disappointment, but he presumed it was a joke. She sighed. "Why did I ever bother? My life would've been much simpler if only I'd let you burn in that Nether prison cell for all of eternity. Then I wouldn't have ever had to deal with your foolishness again."

He faked a pout. "But you love my foolishness! It is an amazing, redeeming quality," he pointed out, wings drooping sadly. "Boo-hoo," he joked.

"Or I could've just let you die to your own stupidity and recklessness, instead of save you. Or left you to Chaos, or to the Void," she continued, unfazed by his retort.

"B-But then you couldn't hear my awesome jokes," he whimpered, beginning to wonder whether or not she was being serious.

"And, you know, the gods would probably be happier, which would make life a lot easier. As well as not having to clean up a lot more messes. Oh! And let's not forget how Dianite has burnt my house to the ground in order to get revenge against a certain someone," she added.

"Hey! That's not nice," he scolded.

 _Lara? Is… Is this actually you? Or… Chaos?_ He wondered.

Lara looked over at him. "No, what's not nice is coming back from the dead; finding out that not only is the person you love completely out of his mind, but there's a psychotic goddess in your old house and she's practically killing your brother; and all of your friends are dead. That's not nice."

He shrugged, eyes narrowing. She was suddenly being cold to him again. Had his nicknames for her really upset her? _She's so petty…_ "Yeah, you have a point. But what're you gettin' at?"

She walked around behind him and pushed against him shoulders, shoving him forward. "Rebuild my house. Fix your damn mess. Because, if you don't, I'm drowning you in the ocean."

"One minute nice, the next not. What time of the month did your immortality stop aging you?" He asked.

"One."

"What?"

"Two…"

He blinked, confused, and then realized what she was doing. "Oh shit…"

"Exactly," she confirmed. "Now get going. Take responsibility and fix the house."

He stepped forward and started collecting the materials to rebuild the cabin. As he worked, he could not get rid of the sinking anger that was slowly beginning to come over him. What was Lara's problem? How could she switch from being a literal angel, to being awful? One minute she was so nice and cuddly, and the next, she was demanding. He did not enjoy that – but he knew where she was coming from. Her house was another thing she would have had to fix, and Jay technically led to its destruction. It was only fair that he fix it.

A smirk came over his face as he added a few extra additions on to the cabin. He dug out a path and laid down redstone all the way to Tom's door, returning to place a pressure plate connected to the redstone line at the door of Lara's house. Underneath Tom's door was a pile of TNT ready to explode at the light of the redstone.

He flew into the nearby trees and stopped in front of the tree Lara was sitting in, inspecting her wing. It still looked injured to him, but he pushed aside his care for that, which was rather easy to do. "Lara," he called, wary of being attacked despite his perfectly legitimate question earlier.

"Done?" She asked, looking over at him.

He nodded, trying not to show off what he had done with a laugh or a grin. "Yeah."

She hopped down from the tree. "Alright. Show me."

He flew ahead of her and waited outside of the house. "I even replicated the insides," he pointed out.

She walked up the path to the house. He noticed that her left wing was curled closer to her than the right, and wondered absently why he did not care about the fact that she was in clear pain. Maybe because she was not complaining of it, or because he was trying to distance himself from her in case she really had been serious when speaking negatively of him.

"I'm impressed," she complimented. "Aren't you going to show me?"

He nodded and gestured to the door. "After you, I suppose."

She gave him a look. He panicked, wondering if she had seen what he was doing, but she nodded and walked forward. As soon as she stepped on the pressure plates, Jay struggled to hold back a laugh. He could hear redstone power. After a few ticks, his chat-pad beeped and the message _SynHD was blown up_ appeared on it.

Lara looked over at the chat-pad and then up at him. "Really."

"What?" He retorted, feeling strangely offended that she would be so… unimpressed and unamused. "So I did it. And?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I should have expected that."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Yeah. From the troublemaker. I'll go help him. No more messes, after all," he said coolly, turning to leave.

"Jay, I meant no messing up my things and expecting me to deal with it. If my house gets destroyed because you did something, then fix it. If other peoples' do, then that's a completely different story. I don't mind helping others, but my house has been demolished so many times before you came around. It's getting annoying," Lara informed.

"Yeah, whatever. Point is: never again."

He pumped his wings and flew off, ignoring Lara's protesting noise. He had to ask the Wizards for a favor. He landed outside of their base. "Waglington," he hollered.

"Yes, Jay?" Waglington inquired, appearing behind him.

Jay turned to him. "I need something built."

"What would you like?" The Wizard asked, smiling a bit.

It took the entire night, but the Wizards managed to finish everything. Jay had three floating chunks of land built in the middle of the Mianitees general area. The house was more of a castle. It spanned three islands with interconnecting bridges. The middle had contrasting colors, being both quartz block and nether brick. The nether brick outlined the house, while the main parts of the building were the quartz. It had large walls and a roof that went upwards in a pyramid fashion. Lava flowed at the top, running diagonally down the side of the house. It had a short overhang with pillars supporting it, giving it a courthouse-like appearance. The two bridges connected to towers. Each had the same color scheme as the main and a sign saying "Tom's tower 2.0."

Waglington looked over at Jay when the building was complete. "It's nearly morning," he pointed out, "you should get some rest, Jay. I'm sure Lara won't be too happy to see you away so long."

"I'm not sure she'll even care at all. Goodnight, Waglington," he offered in returned, stepping into the house that had just been built. Even if it was for Tom, he did not care enough not to share it for the night. He would show it to Tom in the morning.

He heard Waglington sigh behind him. "They're miserable with and without each other," the Wizard muttered.

Jay closed the door and walked to a bedroom to sleep. Despite his desire, he felt anxious and restless. Energized like he needed to spend some of his energy. It was an effect of the night, even though it was drawing quickly to its close. It was always difficult to sleep during the night, but it was worse now than it had been ever before. The strange feeling that had been present since hearing of the storm was still there, lingering and growing.

He got out of bed and left the new building, flying to the one person he knew could assist him. "Dec!"

Declan glanced up as he approached. It looked as though the priest had been tending to his garden. It was probably very peaceful with the gods so quiet and the Guardians and Mianitees keeping out of trouble. Jay almost felt bad about bothering him. Almost.

"Dec! Dec," he shouted as he neared the priest. He put his hands on his knees and bent over. It was oddly hard to regain his breath. "Heard… anything… storm…"

"I don't believe so. If the gods have heard anything about a storm, then they're keeping it to themselves," he offered apologetically. "Are you alright, though? You seem like you're having trouble catching your breath."

"Yeah," he managed. "Long day… this storm… don't know if it's affecting me."

Suddenly, it was as though his windpipe had expanded back to its normal size, allowing air to flow freely into his lungs. Despite that, he felt drained and tired. He wondered if he had not begun to suffocate himself with how quickly he had been trying in vain to breathe again. His head felt hazy, though he blamed it on the lack of air.

"Oh, can I speak in your mind?" He asked.

 _Only gods can do that. I'm not a god,_ he thought, before giving in to the need to correct himself, _I am a god._

Declan stared at him for a moment before answering, "I… suppose so," he replied.

Jay smiled and closed his eyes, reaching out to Declan. There was nothing barring him from reaching into the priest's mind. It was like he was extending a new limb, one that was someone connected to the mortal.

 _ **I am so going to fuck with you,**_ he laughed, barely aware of the way his voice sounded slightly maddened.

He kicked off of the ground. "See you later, Dec," he called before leaving.

He stumbled when he landed back at the house he had made for Tom. _Mine,_ his mind growled. He shook his head. The storm was definitely making him feel strange. It felt like he was falling asleep. It was getting difficult to do anything or even think properly. It felt like being sealed somewhere, alone, but he was too tired to bring himself to care, even as he dragged himself to a bed. Sleep was too tempting to resist.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Nothing to say.**_


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen**

Lara woke up the next morning, lying on her stomach because there had been too much pressure on her wings to sleep on her back. She had meant to ask Jay about how the Void could affect injuries, but she had gotten distracted and he had left before she could. Maybe her jokes had upset him, but he was usually very good about jokes and took her words with a grain of salt. The only truthful anger against him had been the remarks about coming back to see everyone dying and losing her home, but she had hardly meant even that.

She reluctantly rolled out of bed, deciding to find him. Her bed was comfortable and warm, but she owed Jay an apology. She left the house and flew around for a while, stopping when she noticed the large building that had not been there the previous day. She moved closer to it and then went inside, looking around. Perhaps Jay had decided to hide here?

She stopped in one of the bedrooms, relieved to see him sleeping in the bed. She walked over and prodded him with a finger. "Come on," she coaxed, "wakey-wakey."

"Go away person or sun," he groaned, refusing to open his eyes.

"Don't be mean to the sun, it's nice to you," she scolded.

"I-It's hard," he admitted. "Come closer."

"If this is going to be a 'come closer so I can kiss you' moment, I'm leaving to start my morning without you," she warned.

"It's not," he promised sleepily. She leaned forward and he hissed, "No. Wake."

"Fine. Don't get up, but I still need to. You may not be in your home realm, Jay, but I am – and I still have work that needs to be done," she told him, standing upright. "Laze around in bed all day if that's what you want."

"It's not what I want. It's what the damn stor' want. I can laze around all day if I feel like it," he retorts, rolling over as if to shun her.

 _Stor? Does he mean to say 'storm?'_ She wondered, before grabbing his arm and turning him onto his back to face her again. "What's with you? First last night, and now this? You've been in an awful mood since I asked you to rebuild my house."

"Maybe you should have let me die," he mimicked harshly, "we can't seem to be together without fight. Maybe we shouldn't be. But I need my rest. Bye."

"I…" She swallowed past a knot that suddenly form in her throat. After everything, he did not want to be with her? He did not believe they should be together? "I thought you knew I was kidding, but… if you don't want to be with me, then…"

He shrugged her hand off of his shoulder and rolled over again, back to her. "Night."

She turned and walked out of the room as light snoring filled it. Outside of filling in the cracks left by Chaos, she had planned to spend her day with Jay, enjoying their togetherness. Besides that, she had no idea what to do. It would not take her long to fix them, though.

Lara stopped in mid-air, noticing that Declan was leaving his house. She flew down beside him, landing. He had an odd look on his face that she recognized as discontentment. "Holy Man, what are you up to this morning? You look… concerned. Did the gods tell you something?"

He shook his head. "Might be nothing… notice anything different about Jay?" He inquired as he kept walking.

Lara followed alongside him, noticing that he was approaching the strange building. As he drew closer to it, his expression changed to one of discomfort. "He wouldn't get out of bed this morning, and he's been in a bad mood since last night," she informed, "he wanted nothing to do with me today."

Declan frowned. "He was really tired last night. I don't know about that last part," he admitted, before gesturing up at the castle-like building. "Uh, mind giving me a lift up there?"

She grabbed him and flew up to the house, landing in front of the door. "He visited you last night? I wasn't sure where he went."

He shrugged and started into the house. "To me, apparently."

As soon as he stepped through the doorway, Declan let out a cry of pain and dropped to his knees, head in his hands. Lara felt panic wash over her and she grabbed him, trying to prevent him from getting hurt. He was trying and failing to say something, only eliciting groans and gasps. Worried, she lifted him up and dove off of the main island, holding the priest close until she reached his bedroom.

"Declan, are you alright?" She asked.

"So… much… static," he mumbled between gasps for air.

"W-What can I do to help? T-There must be something, right?" She wondered aloud.

"Maybe… snap Jay out of it… slap him… anything," Declan suggested. His voice was nearly a beg, which only further sparked her concern. Declan rarely pleaded over anything, and for her entire time of knowing him, she had only ever heard him beg jokingly. He sounded like he was in so much pain. "P-Please… hurry…"

She nodded. "I'm borrowing a bucket of water. I'll refill it," she promised, grabbing a bucket from one of his chests and leaving to fill it.

As soon as it was filled, she flew back up to the building and entered, hiding the bucket behind her. She walked down the hall, toward the room Jay had been sleeping in. In spite of her desire to rush, she knew she had to remain calm and composed. She hesitated outside of the room and knocked on the door.

"Jay," she called.

"Who is it?" He replied.

She rolled her eyes. "Very cute. It's Lara. I was here this morning, trying to wake you. Is it alright if I come in?"

"Yeah… Lara… that's right," he said. "I suppose you can."

Lara opened the door and walked into the room, keeping the bucket still behind her as best she could. Jay was stretched out on the bed and he yawned before asking, "What brings you here… Lara? I thought you were here this morning."

"I ran into Declan earlier. He was concerned about you. He said you had visited him last night and had been acting strangely," she answered. "He tried to come with me to see you, but he started feeling…" She clutched the bucket tighter. "Ill."

"Ill?" He repeated, looking over at her.

 _His eyes are…_ She fought the urge to frown. _No. Jay's eyes are blue, not brown. Why are his eyes brown? What is this?_

"And so, what did you want with me, when it is him that is sick?" Jay, or the creature posing as Jay, asked.

"Well, he seems to believe you have something to do with it. And seeing as he was barely inside of this house when he felt horribly sick – as well as the fact that you were acting strangely then and strangely now – I'd have to agree with him. So—" She held up the bucket. "Let's see if some cold will snap you out of it."

He – _it_ , she corrected – growled. "Good thing I took time to practice."

It vanished and Lara felt the air behind her shift. She let go of the bucket, leaping over the bed just in time to see it attempt to lunge for where she had been standing. "What are you?" She demanded.

"I am me," it insisted, kicking over the bucket. It looked Lara up and down and then gave her an appreciative glance. "Quite beautiful. I can see why he liked you. I, however—" It laughed, before finishing smugly, "—am different. It what I want you for."

It vanished again and reappeared in front of her. Lara growled. She kicked off of the floor to allow herself to hover slightly. She was not made for combat; she was made for healing. Despite the power she had witnessed herself using in the memories Ianite had shown she and Jay, she was not powerful. She had no idea how to access that ability, or what had prompted her to be able to.

"Who is 'me?' Because you're not Jay," she snapped, "and what do you want with me?"

"But I _am_ Jay, and I've been asleep for a while," it growled, before replying, "I don't think nuisances should be allowed to live."

She ignored his second comment. "No, you're not. Jay has blue eyes, not brown."

"It's con—I don't have to explain it to you," it retorted angrily.

Lara backed up a pace as it drew closer to her, shaking her head and smirking. "Angry that you can't convince me? Because you're wrong, and I'm not about to fall for you little tricks?" She asked. "I'll ask you again – what are you?"

It shrugged. "Don't believe me, then. Get it through you thick skull, I _am_ Jay." It flicked its wrist and shadows reached forward toward it. "That proof enough?"

"No, it's not. But now what? Going to try and kill me, is that it?" She inquired.

"I have an idea that might be more fun," it said, smirking widely and lunging forward at her.

"Really, I don't—"

Lara cut herself off when her back hit the wall. She could no longer step back, and she could not step forward. She had backed herself into a corner, with no way out of it. Unlike Jay and this thing, she could not teleport. Her wings were too damaged to try to bat it away from her to make a run for the door – and even if she did, it would be able to catch her with shadows, just as Jay could.

The thing controlling Jay stepped forward, rubbing its palms together slowly. "You going to play along, girlie?" It asked, before growling and clenching its fist, causing the door to slam shut.

Lara glared at it, deciding to keep a brave front. "Play along? Hardly. I don't play with shadows."

It reached forward, grabbing her by the throat. Instinctively, Lara reached up to try and pry its hand away from her neck, but its grip was too tight for her to force off. She clawed at it instead, silently wishing she had claws like Jace.

 _I'm going to die, and this thing is going to keep hurting Declan,_ she realized, _and Jay. What happened to Jay? What is this thing? I… I don't want to die!_

Its grip loosened a bit and suddenly its eyes had changed color, reverting to the same blue she was familiar with. As quickly as the relief had come, though, its hand wrapped tighter around her throat and its eyes shifted back to a deep brown.

She tightened her hold on its wrist, focusing as panic flooded through her. Gold light spread out from her palm, wrapping around its wrist. The skin began to sizzle under the light. The creature let out a growl, tightening its grip even tighter as it slammed her back against the wall. Lara felt the delicate bones in her wings snap at the force, causing her to manage a wince past the almost crushing force on her throat.

The creature smirked at her. "What's the matter? Did I hurt one of your pretty little feather?" It mocked. "Come on, Lara. Embrace sleep."

Lara glared at it weakly. Her hand slipped off of its wrist as it tightened its hold on her neck just a bit more. She knew if it clutched any tighter, it would snap her neck. The lack of oxygen, however, was taking its toll on her and she felt her eyes start to slip closed.

 _Declan… Jay… I'm sorry._

* * *

 ** _A/N: One more chapter after this for this story in the series. After next week, the main stories for the GoM series are going to be going on a mini-break while I edit at least the first couple for the third story in the series. It will likely start up again in October or November, depending on how stressful school becomes and how overwhelming October becomes, since I want to have another month-long one-shot challenge for October and deal with Halloween-related one-shots._**


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Fifteen**

Lara felt herself hit the floor suddenly. The hand that had been wrapped around her throat had let her go and she blinked, trying to stave off pain and dizziness from lack of oxygen as air rushed back into her lungs. Declan was kneeling next to her, visibly a bit better. Now broken pieces that had once belonged to a chair were lying on the floor next to Jay's body, which was motionless aside from breathing. Content that the danger was gone for now and that Jay was alive, she turned her attention to Declan, attempting to flick a wing up to tell him she was alright. As she did so, pain lit up her nerves.

"Ugh, my head," Declan groaned as he sat back, likely understanding what she had been attempting to tell him. "Let's get you situated and find out what's wrong with him."

Lara coughed, trying to force herself up. She managed to make it into a sitting position, but the pain in her wings proved too much to push past yet. "He's possessed by… something," she informed, voice strained, and rubbed at her throat.

"Possessed?" He echoed. "Maybe I can get it out."

"Maybe," Lara mumbled, setting her head back against a wall and closing her eyes. It was easier to breathe now, but it hurt to move. "Don't… Don't overwork yourself, though."

She did not want to voice her concerns to Declan, but as she opened her eyes and looked over at Jay, she realized that she would not be able to save them if that creature came into control again. If it woke before they could get it out of Jay, Lara knew she would not be able to save Declan. She could not move quickly enough or with enough power to do anything.

Declan got up, moving to Jay and lifting his eyelids. Whatever he saw made him chuckle, despite the dangerous situation surrounding them. "Hell, they're fighting. Looks like a hell of a fight," he offered, "I think the best bet would be to keep him near my place. It will have the least amount of influence there."

Lara begrudgingly forced herself to her feet, swaying. The pain washing through her from the sudden jostle of her wings was enough to require her to find the wall for support. "We should do that, then. Come on, let's go."

Declan sent her a chastising frown. "We can't go down that with your wings like that," he pointed out, "Jace might not be of help, either. He'll kill Jay along the way."

"Then what would you suggest, Holy Man? We run the risk of staying and trying it here?" She asked.

"Well, yeah. Besides keeping him in a quiet area, we might be able to mentally support him. Then again, we would need Ianite, and she could teleport us to my place," he said.

Lara nodded. "Right. Lady—"

"I was listening, Lara," Ianite offered as she appeared. She turned to Declan. "What would you like me to do, Priest?"

"Just take us to my place. He seems to be fighting something internally. Is it possible for us to go in there?" He replied.

Ianite nodded. "It would be, but it could be dangerous," she confirmed, teleporting the four of them to Declan's home. As Declan set Jay on the bed, she shifted her attention over to Lara.

"Your wings aren't healing as quickly as they should, are they, dear?" She asked. Lara shook her head a bit, finding one of Declan's walls and leaning against it. Ianite offered a sympathetic sigh and continued, "I wish I could do something for you, but your body won't allow it. Because you should be healing through use of your energy, it won't allow an alteration."

Lara sighed. "It's fine. I'll be okay. I just… I need a moment," she lied, "I'll be able to fly around just fine soon."

"The dangers would be?" Declan asked, returning to the previous subject. "I don't have the mind abilities of yourself, Lady Ianite. But he needs her to remind him that he has something to fight for. Plus, I haven't seen a good fight since Tucker and Tom." He laughed, before clearing his throat and adding more seriously, "b-but, yeah. You get the gist of it."

"You could aggravate whatever is attempting to control Jay, to the point where it may forcibly take control again. Or you may prove to be a distraction to Jay in spite of trying to do good," Ianite offered as an explanation. "Priest, if the creature takes control again, you will be in a worse state than you had been in previously. All of that pain will return, with more to follow because the creature will most likely be angry."

Declan frowned. "Yeah. I'm just getting by as is. And the creature is distracted," he admitted. "Do you know what it is? Because if it beats Jay, it has—"

"Unconditional control," Ianite finished with a nod, offering no more information.

Lara closed her eyes, trying to ignore the sense of doubt that came over her. "It won't," she interjected, "because he promised he'd never leave me."

"You are right. Perhaps the promise is all he needs," Ianite mused.

* * *

Jay was exhausted. The fighting was stopping. He kept attacking the thing. When he had forced himself into control and witnessed his own hand wrapped around Lara's neck, it had been enough to double his resolve. It wanted to kill her. Unfortunately, his time in power had been brief and he had been thrown back. He was unsure what had happened, but his attacker seemed stuck now as well, and he could only assume his body was unconscious somewhere. Hopefully Lara was okay.

"Bastard. I'll kill you," he yelled defiantly, kicking off of the ground and flying forward, smashing the creature against a tree that had been conjured up in his mindscape.

It laughed. "Gotten stronger, I suppose," it said.

"Shut up, you don't know anything about me," he shouted, landing a punch.

"Ah, but I do," the creature replied, "my child."

Jay staggered backward slightly, shocked. _Void? Void's alive? But… I thought… No!_

A foot slammed into his chest, sending him back further. "You did not truly believe I would be killed by weak gods, did you? I was merely resting," Void informed.

"Well, let me get you some more," he offered, swinging his right arm at the swirling mass of darkness in shape of a man. "Bastard. You hurt Lara, so I'll kill you."

Void caught his fist, twisting it to one side and then tossing him away. He glared over at Jay. "Mianite's Guardian has made you grow soft and weak. It will be in your best interest to be rid of her."

"What's the matter, Bro? You mad? Couldn't keep me away?" He taunted, before growling and glaring back at Void. "The throne is mine, and guess what? I don't plan on destroying the gods. Perhaps putting Dianite in his place, but you're fucked."

He chuckled at Jay. "We shall see about that."

"I have someone to go check on, _so fucking die_ ," Jay yelled as he shot a blast of pure energy at Void.

Void vanished before the blast could hit him, reappearing behind Jay. "I think not."

Jay turned, fist immediately flying toward his opponent, but Void vanished again before his fist could connect. "Scared? You can't win and you know it," he mocked.

"What do you believe this will accomplish? It will not make the gods be any greater in your favor," Void told him. "They will never hold you to the standings of one of their own. They will always be wary of you because of what you are." He chuckled and added, "and the moment you make a simple mistake, everything will be torn from you."

"It'll be worth it for two reasons," Jay started, adding, "one. I am going to kick your ass. And two. As long as I get to cherish the time I had with Lara – they banish me, so what? I will come back. But you won't after this."

He attempted to bring darkness up to assist him, but the shadows swirled around them, unsure whom to serve. Void glanced around at the shadows as he spoke, "You will only have your hopes and dreams shattered, boy. In the end, she will choose her maker over you. Your efforts will have been in vain, and then you will come crawling back to me."

"It will be impossible to crawl back to someone that's dead. Now enough talk. Let's dance."

Jay appeared behind Void and drove his fist in-between Void's shoulder blades. Void stumbled forward a bit, but lifted a leg up to kick Jay, following the motion with a punch. Jay's head snapped upward from being hit. He jumped back to dodge another attack, gathering the darkness that rose at his command to shoot it at Void. The attack caught Void in the leg as he went to dodge it, earning a hiss and a glare. Jay gathered two more and shot them. Void dodged the first, but was hit and thrown back by the second. Jay ran forward, intent to follow it up with a kick as Void drew to his feet. Void threw a punch to intercept him, but Jay ducked underneath the punch and dug the hell of his foot into Void's ankle. Void stumbled to the side, lowering a bit to avoid losing his balance completely. He punched Jay in the stomach before summoning up darkness to catch Jay's arms and legs, and hold them in place.

Jay struggled against the binds fruitlessly. Void was the first shadow, to his knowledge. His control was unmatched, but Jay was determined to keep trying. He had to get back and make sure Lara was alright.

"Have to hold someone down to win?" He taunted.

Void gave him an unimpressed glance. "This would be much easier for you if you would have chosen to stand still," he said, clenching his fists.

The shadows tightened around his wrists and ankles, but it did not hurt much. Jay let out a fake whimper. "Ow, that hurts. You know, chaining people is not cool."

 _Maybe… if I can keep you distracted, I can break these damn things,_ he thought, continuing to struggle for show as he attempted to gather as much energy as he could.

"Watch your tongue, boy," Void growled warningly.

"What's the matter? Not smart enough to think of a comeback?" He retorted.

Void smirked. "No. I'm just thinking of how wonderful it will be when the gods fall, and their Guardians are soon to follow them to their graves. Perhaps I shall save Mianite's for last, and allow her to watch as the world she loves is destroyed before her very eyes."

Jay smirked right back at him. "Yet, you have already lost."

The binds holding him dissipated and he rolled to the side, blasting Void in the face with the energy he had been gathering. With Void so close to him, Jay felt himself be pushed slightly by the energy. It hit Void straight in the face, causing him stumble back with a horrible scream.

"Oh… that may leave a mark," Jay laughed.

Void glared and gathered a large amount of darkness behind him. "Enough of these games. This ends now," he snarled.

He flicked his wrist toward Jay. The shadows behind him lunged forward, although they appeared to do so weaker than before. Jay put up his hand and they stopped moving toward him immediately, as if suddenly paused.

"I am the true King of the Void, Wielder of Darkness. And you. Will. Die," he said through gritted teeth, sending the shadows back at Void.

The shadow lurched around immediately, darting forward. They completely covered Void. For a moment, they struggled and darted about as he fought with them. Then, suddenly, they fell still, sinking slowly into the ground. Void was gone. It was as though the shadows had consumed him.

But Jay knew better than to think his creator was dead. Void was just resting again – and now, he was doing so in Jay's own head. He knew only light would truly get rid of Void, and some part of him ached with that understanding. Light was something he had no access to using. The memories Ianite had shown he and Lara, however, had proved that Lara had the ability to control it, though. Jay did not want to bring Lara into his problems, but this was no longer a matter of choice.

Jay sighed and raised a hand to his forehead, forming his thumb and pointer-finger in an 'L' shape. "Hah. Noob," he joked before looking around. "Damn. No ruby slippers to get back home…"

Ianite appeared next to him. "Ah… I see you've won," she commented. "You had people worried."

"He's not dead. Just subdued," Jay informed. "How is Lara? Is she alright?"

"Lara is fine. She's waiting for you to return." Ianite smiled at him. "I could bring you back now, if you'd like."

"Yes, I'd very much like that," he answered, returning the smile. "I think I can heal her. Being in the Void… it's like another realm. Injuries carried over heal really slowly, or need to be healed by someone from there."

Ianite nodded and offered out her hand. "I would advise you not to sit up quickly. Lara has been resting next to you. I believe the sound of your heartbeat is soothing to her."

Jay felt a blush begin to heat his face. "T-Thank you for warning me," he said, taking her hand. The world around him grew dark.

When he opened his eyes, he was aware of the weight pressing down on his chest. He hummed quietly to gain Lara's attention, hoping not to startle her. She opened her eyes and lifted her head up off of his chest. She was clearly in pain, and clearly tired. He wondered if her drowsiness was caused by Void attempting to strangle her, or if she had not slept well the night prior.

"You're back," she mumbled sleepily as she sat up and rubbed at her eyes.

He nodded. "Yeah, are you alright?" He asked, hand running through her hair.

"My wings have seen better days," she answered.

He reached out and trace the cuts, feeling the small bones as well where they had been damaged. He hummed quietly in thought and in an attempt to soothe her. The shadows cast by the lights in Declan's room spread up through her wings, tinging them a faint gray. The gray coloration retreated and he smiled at her.

"Better?" He inquired.

She raised them experimentally, returning his smile. "Much."

"Now, for being asleep for so long, why am I so tired?" He wondered.

"Mental exhaustion, probably," she offered, glancing around. When she did not seem to find what she was looking for, she laid her head back down on his chest. "Declan said you were fighting whatever that thing was. It probably tired you out."

He shifted uncomfortably. It was awkward, having someone use him as a pillow – but it was kind of nice to know Lara felt comfortable so close to him. Void was wrong. And even if he was not – even if the gods did hate Jay forever – if Lara loved him, it would be fine. He could manage everything, but the loss of her.

"Yeah, maybe," he agreed, before adding jokingly while he wrapped one wing protectively around her, "now, why am I the human pillow?"

"Because you're more comfortable than the pillows," she informed.

"Fine, this one time," he said, though he knew he would oblige her whenever she asked for this closeness. It was nice for him, too.

Lara closed her eyes, mumbling something. Jay's lips tilted upward into a slight smirk. "What was that?" He asked.

"I wanted to hear your heart so I could be sure that you were okay," she told him, "because I didn't want the last thing I said to you to be something I said in anger."

"Well, that is nice," he commented. "But, you still said I am comfortable. Now, sleep – no more talky."

He waited until she had been lulled to sleep, probably by the sound of his heart. He kept his hands running through her hair, wing pressed carefully against her back to keep her close. When he was satisfied that she was there and safe, he sighed in content. "Oh, good to be back," he muttered, sleep slowly overtaking him.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Aaannd that's that for this story in the series. The main stories will pick up again in November, but until then, October will be another month of daily one-shots, and... November may or may not potentially be the beginning of the Charmed-verse, if I get around to editing that, too. The Charmed-verse will definitely start being posted at some point in November, and may be separated into a few stories itself since the document it's on right now is over 200 pages unedited, and could do with being properly broken up into 'seasons' in which the events take place. (Note: The Charmed-verse is essentially a continuation of the series Charmed, but with some changes and the addition of the main cast of the Guardians (Jay, Jace, and Lara). Polaris and QuickSilver will likely eventually be implemented, but have not yet been.)**_


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